


Prelude to 2033: Fall of the Mighty

by redhoodie2033



Series: Prelude to 2033 [2]
Category: DCU (Comics)
Genre: Angst, Depression, F/F, F/M, Graphic Violence, Justice 2033 AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-30
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-16 09:47:39
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 23,465
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29080353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redhoodie2033/pseuds/redhoodie2033
Summary: How would a world so dependent on superheroes fair when their heroes fail them? Kara Danvers operates with many names: Kara Zor-El, the Girl of Steel, Power Girl... but being called a menace is fairly new. In the prime of her heroic career, the last Daughter of Krypton fears she won't escape from 2027 without some serious  battle scars.This is the part of an interconnected alternate future: Justice 2033.
Relationships: Barbara Gordon/Jason Todd, Carter Hall/Shayera Hol, Clark Kent/Lois Lane, Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor
Series: Prelude to 2033 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2077962
Kudos: 3





	1. Kneel Before Zod

The sound barrier was shattered over the capital of the United States as a figure flew through the clouds. The flying object slowed as it made a descent, coming into view of the Hall of Justice. Outside the compound and behind a crowd of tourists, the aerial arrival landed gently and created a gust of wind with her cape. The tourists turned and cheered upon seeing the woman.

“Power Girl! I love you!” one of them says.

“Can I have a selfie??”

“I’m your biggest fan!”

Power Girl grinned and waved at the tourists as her red cape blew in the wind. She wore a white, Kryptonian fiber suit adorned with the crest of the House of El. The red of the symbol connected with her red cape, accented by a gold trim similar to the trim by her wrists and on her belt. The leggings of the suit were a crimson juxtaposed by golden boots. She quickly brushed some stray hairs from her shirt bob out of her face.

“I need to get by,” she smiles before briefly flying up in the air to get to the front steps. “But, welcome to the Hall of Justice.”

She posed for a few pictures as she pressed her fists to her hips before going inside.

The Girl of Steel walked through the main corridors of the Hall of Justice, passing up statues of the original founders of the Justice League. She eventually ascended an elevator to get to the commons area. She passed some of the residential rooms in order to reach the large, circular meeting room. In the center of the room was a table with nine chairs around it. Only six of the seats were filled by members of the Justice League.

Aquaman sat closest to the entrance, his dirty blond hair lingering past his broad shoulders. He stroked his neat beard as he waited with the rest of the League. Next to him, sat the Flash who anxiously tapped his foot on the ground. Next to him, was John Stewart in his Green Lantern uniform- his crew cut greying on the sides. To his side was Hawkwoman, staring intently at her mace.

Power Girl looked at one of the empty seats, her eyes locking on to her crest on the back of the chair. Power Girl walked over and sat down, across from Martian Manhunter who gave her a kind nod. She looked over at the chair at the end of the table, currently occupied by Superman. The Man of Steel sports an updated symbol with silver accents- almost similar to the grey in his hair.

“Kara,” Superman smiled. “How was the Arctic?”

“Surprisingly cold,” Power Girl smiled. “I managed to pull the freighter out of the ice. No injuries, either.”

“Nice job, P.G., but could you try not inspiring my kids?” The Flash joked. “They’ve been wanting to come with me to the Hall for months.”

“Let them!” Hawkwoman laughed, setting her helmet down. “It’s been too long since I’ve seen the Tornado Twins.”

“Don’t call them that, Shayera,” Barry chuckled.

Power Girl looked around the table and frowned. She glanced at the seats on either side of her cousin, noticing the symbols of Batman and Wonder Woman.

“Where’s Bruce and Diana?” Kara asked.

“Diana is attending to some matters in Themyscira,” Aquaman piped up.

“And Bruce is stuck in Gotham,” John added.

“Gotham City is under attack by the League of Assassins,” Manhunter said. “Batman and his allies are fighting them off to the best of their ability.”

“Do they need help?” Kara questioned.

“No, not right now,” Superman said. “Bruce can hold his own. Besides, we have larger issues. J’onn?”

The martian’s eyes glowed red as he telepathically linked the minds of the Justice League. The group all shared the same visions, all seeing different major cities across the world under attack. They saw cities like London, Paris, Berlin, Las Vegas, Amsterdam, Beijing, Gotham City, Star City, Tokyo, Atlantis, and others under siege by supervillains and terrorists.

“Atlantis!” Arthur Curry said in their shared mind-space, horrified to see Queen Mera fighting Ocean Master. “I need to get home.”

The team was ripped from the visions and found themselves back in the Hall of Justice. Aquaman stood quickly, grabbing his trident.

“Slow down, Arthur,” Flash said. “We need a plan of-”

“Would you say the same if you saw Central City in those visions?” Arthur questioned.

“Go, Arthur,” Superman stands. “We’ll need to split up anyway.”

Aquaman nodded before leaving in a hurry. J’onn’s eyes glowed again as he scanned the minds of millions of people.

“Superman, I’m finding several kryptonians in Metropolis,” J’onn says. “There is another mind there… fighting for dominance against me.”

“Another telepath?” Hawkwoman asked.

“Yes, Hawkwoman,” J’onn said, sweating as he strained his mind.

Superman turned his head and listened for a few moments. His eyes widened as he looked to J’onn.

“It’s Blanque and Zod,” Clark said. “Don’t let him distract you, Manhunter. I need to go.”

“Clark, I can-”

“No, Kara,” Superman said. “We need to spread out. J’onn, send the others wherever they’re needed.”

Superman raced out of the room at an incredible speed. Kara used her super-hearing to listen for her cousin in concern. She continued to listen as J’onn organized the League to different areas of the globe.

“Flash, we could use you in Europe,” J’onn said. “We will need you to cover as much ground as you can.”

“Gotcha, Double-M,” Barry said before running off as a red streak.

“Power Girl, take Hawkwoman with you to New York City,” the manhunter said. “The Titans need some help with H.I.V.E. The organization is utilizing a replica of Amazo.”

“We’ll handle it,” Hawkwoman stood. “Try to keep up, Kara.”

Kara shared a short smile as she followed the winged warrior out.

The two took to the skies, departing from one of the landing pads at the Hall of Justice. The two flew and, eventually, came into view of New York. Power Girl looked down with her telescopic vision as they passed Gotham City. She watched for a few moments, observing the explosions, columns of smoke, and signs of battle. She noticed the entirety of the Batfamily fighting the main force of the League of Assassins as that part of the city was evacuated.

“Damn,” Power Girl says. “It looks intense down there.”

“Gotham?” Hawkwoman said. “Yeah, Carter’s been in Bludhaven for a few days. It’s not pretty on a good day. Can’t imagine what it’s like right now.”

“Is he alright?” Power Girl asked as they flew over the river. “I could go ahead on my-”

“No, no,” Shayera shook her head. “He’s a big boy. He can handle it.”

The two heroines flew into the metropolitan island of Manhattan, dodging skyscrapers and flying evacuation transports. Hawkwoman followed Power Girl, who led her to the West Side. Down on the ground, the Titans fought against the forces of H.I.V.E. and a tall, intimidating android. Steel- a woman in a titanium suit with glowing red eyes, sporting the crest of the House of El- leapt into the air and slammed her metal hammer down on some of the soldiers as a punk Superman used telekinesis to send a squad backwards through a wall.

The Superman was much younger than his Metropolis-bound counterpart by nearly twenty years, though he shared a striking resemblance. He sported the crest of the House of El, though the Kryptonian suit was blue with accents of red, yellow, and black. His sleeves only went to just above his biceps, though he did wear some high-tech device on his wrist.

Next to him, Raven and Beast Boy attempted to hold off the Amazo android. Raven chanted under her breath and released black tendrils from the shadows of her cloak. The tendrils wrapped around the android’s legs as Beast Boy charged as a rhino. Before the green animal made contact, Amazo extended his hands and tendrils- identical to the ones Raven conjured- shot out wildly. A tendril wrapped around the rhino and threw him up into the sky as the others restrained Raven.

“Gar!” Raven called out.

Power Girl dropped down and caught the rhino man just before he shifted back into his normal form.

“Power Girl!” Beast Boy said. “Nice catch! Come to help?”

“Just tell us where you need us, Garfield,” Hawkwoman smirked.

“We could definitely use some help with Amazo,” Beast Boy said as he morphed into a hawk.

“Maybe you should help your cousin, P.G.,” Hawkwoman stated. “I don’t think Amazo should gain some Kryptonian powers. I’ll handle the robot.”

“Good idea, Shay,” Power Girl nodded before flying down to the ground.

Power Girl slammed down onto a H.I.V.E. tank, ripping the hatch open as bullets flew around her. Receiving several bullets to her chest, she grabbed the two men inside the tank and tossed them off to the side.

“Power Girl!” Superman said, floating up into the air as he used his heat vision to melt many of the weapons in the soldiers’ hands. “I’m glad you’re here!”

“Good to see you, Conner,” Power Girl smirked as she dodged a missile. “How’s your day?”

“Oh, just peachy!” he groaned, literally spitting out a bullet. “Sideways! What’s the bomb situation?”

A golden rift in time and space opened over the heroes’ heads and a costumed hero exited it just before the rift closed. The man- adorned in a blue and white skin-tight suit made to survive the trip between realities- landed on the ground next to Steel.

“You got the bomb?” the metal-clad woman questioned.

“Got it,” Sideways said, holding up a small time bomb. “But I don’t have a clue how to disarm the thing.”

“Buy me some time, will you?”

“We’re on it, Nat,” Power Girl said.

“Power Girl- I’m a big fan!” Sideways said, opening a rift and coming out of another behind the enemies. “Is the rest of the League coming?”

“We’re stretched thin,” Power Girl replied, fighting by Superman’s side. “I’m afraid it’s just Hawkwoman and I. We-”

“Damnit!” Steel snapped. “This thing is going to blow, Kon!”

“I’ll fly it up out of-”

“There’s no time-argh!” Steel said as she was knocked off of her feet from a punch from a soldier in a mech suit.

“Bunker,” Kon-El said, pressing a finger to his ear. “We need you here, now.”

On the opposite side of the battlefield, a battalion of soldiers were flung up into the air in an explosion of purple bricks. Quickly, a guy in a purple and black suit caught up with the rest of the Titans- Kara remembered him from Red Robin’s Teen Titans.

“I’m here,” Bunker said with a Latin accent, out of breath. “What’s the…”

“We need to contain the explosion,” Steel said as Power Girl tore the mech in half. “I can’t stop it. Can you do it?”

“Mierda, no lo sé…” he rubbed the back of his head.

“Miguel!” Superman snapped as he caught a missile, removing the warhead.

“¡Bien! I’ll try!”

He extended his hand and purple, hard-light constructs formed out of thin air around the bomb on the ground. The purple bricks came together like a mason building an impenetrable fortress- forming a solid dome around the explosive, even digging into the ground.

The Titans and their allies continued fighting H.I.V.E., anxious due to the yet unexploded bomb. Amidst the fighting, Power Girl turned her head upon hearing an incredibly high-pitch sound. Looking around, she quickly realized that the only one- aside from herself- to notice it was Superman.

“Lois’ signal watch?” Kon-El guessed just before the bomb exploded.

The explosion rocked the ground, but Bunker’s construct held strong, severely minimizing the damage. Power Girl looked to Superman and nodded, before looking in the direction of Metropolis. She used her x-ray and telescopic vision to see all the way to the City of Tomorrow. Superman fought against Zod and other flying adversaries that Kara was unable to make out. Obviously, the fight caused serious damage to the city’s infrastructure.

“Go,” Conner said as a H.I.V.E. aerial transport arrived. “I’ll catch up, but I need to wrap things up here first.”

“Thanks, Kon-El,” Power Girl nodded before rushing to Hawkwoman.

The Warrior Empress of Thanagar held Amazo in a head lock as best she could as she pounded her mace into its face.

“Hawkwoman!” Power Girl said. “Superman needs help in Metropolis!”

“Go ahead!” she replied as Amazo threw her off.

The winged warrior crashed into the side of a bus. She glared as blood trickled down her jaw from under her helmet.

“I’ll help these guys finish off the Iron Giant and I’ll find you,” she growled as she stood, flying back into the air to engage the android.

Power Girl nodded with a small smile before flying off at Mach speed.  _ Come on, Kal-El _ , Power Girl thought.  _ Hold them off just a little longer. _

“Power Girl,” Martian Manhunter said in her earpiece. “Shayera updated me on your location.”

“I heard Lois’ signal watch- it’s at a frequency only Kryptonians can hear,” she explained. “I’m almost to Metropolis.”

“I’ve sent word to some nearby reserve members,” J’onn said. “You’ll have backup as soon as they’re able.”

“Thank you, J’onn,” Power Girl said as the towers of Metropolis came into view.

The Girl of Steel flew under a bridge, stopping to put it back into place and repair it with her heat vision. The cars trapped on the bridge quickly moved on, terrified of the chaos engulfing the City of Tomorrow. She flew over the West River and into Midtown on the main island of New Troy.

Floating in place, she looked around to witness the burning and damaged buildings. A.R.G.U.S. forces worked to evacuate the population as Superman battled above the city. The Man of Steel faced off against General Zod- or  _ Lord _ Zod as he grew to call himself, a Red Lantern, a Kryptonian woman dressed similar to Zod in a black Kryptonian suit with silver accents, and the all too familiar killer android: Eradicator. Down below on the street was the telepathic powerhouse Blanque and Metallo: the cyborg with a heart of Kryptonite.

The Red Lantern wears a usual Red Lantern Corps uniform but with the crest of the House of Zod. Kara recognizes the glowing man as Lor-Zod- Zod and Ursa’s son. Ursa, much like her husband Zod, has begun to show her age with the grey streaks in her hair. Though, age doesn’t seem to have limited her ferocity.

Zod delivered a series of powerful punches to Superman, sending him flipping in the air for Ursa to laser him with her heat vision. Zod flew in for another attack, but Superman clocked him hard enough to send him through an evacuated apartment building.

“You still have a chance to stop this, Zod!” Superman shouted, wiping blood from his lip as Power Girl flew in to help.

“We cannot stop, Kal-El,” Eradicator explained. “The House of El stands as a symbol of Krypton’s failures. For that offense-”

“Just kill him!” Lor-Zod bellowed in rage, creating a construct of a meteor shower to pelt Superman.

“Lor!” Kara shouted, dodging the projectiles and flying up to the lantern. “What happened to you?”

“Oh, so much, Kara!” the Red Lantern laughed, forming a battle axe in his hands. “But I’m here for Kal-El, not you!”

He cracked the axe across her head, sending the Girl of Steel colliding with her cousin on the street. 

“Kara- glad you could make it,” Clark said as they stood. “I’ll hold them off here. I need-”

“You can’t do this alone!” Power Girl says after being hit by Eradicator’s energy blast. “We-”

“Metallo’s gone!” Superman snapped as Zod slammed him into the concrete. “He’s been trying to kill Lois! Get-!”

Superman was cut off as Lord Zod buried Kal’s face deeper into the ground. Kara got back to her feet and flew into the air, speeding towards the Daily Planet.

“Lor,” Zod said as she flew off. “Stop the Daughter of Zor-El.”

“When you say stop…” Lor-Zod ventured.

“Kill her however you’d like.”

Power Girl approached the Daily Planet, using her arctic breath to put out the growing fire in the side of the building. Power Girl flew through the hole, entering the side of the building and landing amidst the growing smoke. She used her x-ray vision to search the rubble- finding several members of the Planet hiding in Perry White’s office with the door barricaded. Most importantly, she watched as Metallo approached the blocked door, stepping over a dead journalist.

“Lane!” Metallo screamed out, his metallic voice sending a shiver down Kara’s spine. “Where are you!? You told me I worked for you, right? Well look at us now!”

A small energy weapon extended from Metallo’s forearm, the tube on the side glowing a bright green. Power Girl leapt into action, grabbing him by the shoulder and throwing him across the room. Metallo grunted in surprise as he crashed through a cubicle. He slowly rose in the smoke and fire, his cybernetic eyes burning with rage.

“Power Girl…” Metallo growled as he stepped into view.

The last time Power Girl saw Metallo, he didn’t have a physical body. He was a cyborg who- upon his death- had his consciousness digitized. As of 2027, he was fully an android solely powered by Kryptonite. The only part of his body that wasn’t robotic was his face. Instead of a metal faceplate, his skull… his  _ real _ skull- the only remains of John Corben- was connected only to cause fear. Cybernetic eyes were looped through the now-useless eye sockets.

“You obviously have forgotten a few things, Power Girl,” Metallo said coldly as he fired a blast of Kryptonite.

Power Girl dodged, watching as the green blast blew straight through a column. She sent a blast of her heat vision, slightly melting some of the metallic plates. She dodged another blast as she flew towards him, delivering a powerful punch that sent Metallo plummeting towards the streets several blocks away.

“Lois Lane-Kent? Are you here?” Power Girl called out, realizing her attack only destabilized the building more. “Metallo’s down for now.”

Soon, the door to White’s office opened and a dozen people came out including James Olsen, Perry White, and Lois Lane-Kent.

“Power Girl, thank God,” Perry White said. “I didn’t think we would make it.”

“Power Girl, where’s Superman?” Lois asked with a worried look in her eyes, some strands of her greying hair in her face. “Is he alright?”   
“I came to stop Metallo,” she explained. “He’s still fighting Zod and his allies. I need to get back to him, but you need to get out of here. You should have evacuated a long time ago.”

“We had to let the people know what was happening,” James said, his messy red hair sprinkled with dust and ash.

“Well, you should-”

The Girl of Steel never finished her statement as Lor-Zod crashed into her like a bullet train, using her to ram through several levels of the Daily Planet before flying her through the asphalt and into the subway system. Kara groaned in pain as she slowly stood on the tracks, the tunnel shaking and creaking around her from the recent impact. She looked back down the dark tunnel as Lor-Zod’s glowing body illuminated the area.

“That ring…” Kara coughed. “It’s killing you, Lor.”

“You must be joking,” he laughed as his eyes glowed a deadly crimson. “I’ve never felt better, Kara!”

“I had one of those once,” she shouted, her voice echoing. “It didn’t help, Lor-Zod. It fed off of my anger and amplified it. It pulled me in every direction so much… I could barely recognize myself.”

“That’s the point!” Lor-Zod screamed, sending an energy blast at Kara.

Power Girl stumbled back but dodged a subsequent series of punches from the raging Kryptonian. She raised her arms to block more rapid attacks, wincing as heat vision burned her arms.

“DIE!!” Lor-Zod screamed as he formed a Kryptonian spear, hitting the woman in the side.

He attacked again but she dodged and delivered an uppercut that sent the prince slamming into the ceiling of the tunnel. Power Girl flew up, punching him repeatedly through the stone of the Earth and the city streets. The two Kryptonians flew up into the sky from the subways, exchanging a series of blows.

Eventually, Kara found herself next to her cousin facing off against Zod’s forces. Blanque stood safely by Eradicator, attempting to infiltrate Power Girl’s mind. The albino man glared with his dark eyes as Metallo limped over to join the villains.

“I was hoping to deal with you without any assistance, Kal-El,” Zod glared as his eyes glowed red. “However, I’d like to burn this world before sundown.”

“What’s wrong, Zod?” Superman said as blood dripped from his broken nose. “You need help to just kill two of us?”

“Who exactly are you calling in now?” Power Girl added. “I’m surprised you’ve found anyone willing to work with you besides these losers.”

“Your bravado fails to hide your fear, Kara Zor-El,” Blanque gloated.

“We have no need to call in anyone else, Son of Jor-El,” Ursa scowled.

“When Metallo was reconstructed, a remnant of Krypton was placed in his chest as a power core,” Zod explained. “However, a thermonuclear bomb was also integrated- hidden deep inside.”

“What?” Metallo said, shocked. “What the Hell are you talking about!? He didn’t say anything about-”

“Shut your trap, android,” Lor-Zod snapped, forming a sphere around Metallo’s head so he couldn’t be heard.

Kara and Clark scan Metallo with their x-ray vision. They both looked past the shards of Kryptonite in his chest and they spotted the bomb, already set on a timer with barely a minute left.

“Zod, this is insane,” Clark snapped. “The radiation wouldn’t even kill me! But Metropolis- these people haven’t done anything to you!”

“You’re right,” Zod said coldly. “The radiation won’t have any real effect. The fragments of Kryptonite inside of it will, however. We can let it explode here and you’ll take us with you, but you  _ will _ kill every soul in this city.”

“Kal-El,” Power Girl said. “Please, I can-”

“No,” Clark sighed. “I’m sorry, Kara. Earth can’t lose us both.”

“Kal!” Kara yelled as Superman grabbed Metallo and flew into the sky at an incredible speed.

“We’re not finished,” Power Girl glared at Zod before following her cousin straight up into the lower atmosphere.

Power Girl rocketed upwards as the powerful winds stung at her face. She dodged falling pieces of metal from Metallo’s damaged armor plating. Superman and Metallo came into view as she cleared a section of clouds.

“Power Girl?” Martian Manhunter said in her ear. “I’ve been monitoring your situation. Reinforcements are nearly there.”

“Good, because…” Power Girl said as she approached Superman. “I don’t think I can stop Clark.”

“We cannot let Metallo detonate anywhere near civilians,” J’onn replied. “I… I’m not sure if there’s another way, Kara.”

Power Girl’s eyes glowed a bright red as she burns much of the reserve solar radiation in her body. The surge in power sent her closer to Superman as the atmosphere began to thin.

“Kal!” she screamed, grabbing onto her cousin as Metallo squirmed.

The two stopped flying upwards as they looked at each other, watching the lights of the upper layers of Earth’s atmosphere highlight the curvature of the planet.

“Kara, I told you to stay down there!” Kal said, shocked.

“I can’t let you do this,” Kara said firmly. “This will  _ kill _ you!”

“I’ve survived worse. Besides, if I don’t, it will kill countless others,” Superman said. “And you? You have so much more of life to experience.”

“I just- let me help you,” she said, seeing the timer only had thirty seconds remaining.

“I’m sorry,” Kal said. “I can’t risk it, Kara.”

Before she could react, Superman delivered a staggering, sonic punch. Power Girl plummeted for several seconds, stunned by Superman’s actions as she fell through the clouds. By the time she was able to regain her balance and stop falling, the bomb exploded high in the atmosphere in a massive blast of fire, radiation, and the green shine of Kryptonite.


	2. The Legacy of Krypton

The explosion over Metropolis reminded Kara Danvers of the day she officially joined the Justice League. To say it was unforgettable would have been an understatement. The Earth was shrouded in complete darkness as a dark, cosmic entity engulfed the sun. The world was thrown into chaos as the planet- over a period of two days- began to freeze over. Bodies of water began to freeze as even tropical areas were covered in snow and ice.

The Justice League spread out across the globe in order to reestablish order and bring relief. The League called in their allies when Brainiac arrived in his ship on the third day, to seemingly take advantage of the weakened planet. Power Girl arrived in Gotham City as a horde of Brainiac Probes- deadly, skeletal looking robots with a dark chrome appearance used in Vril Dox’s conquests- descended upon the city. She landed near Wayne Tower, helping Wonder Woman and the Flash fight off the invaders during a blizzard.

“Diana!” Power Girl snapped as a group of probes piled on the demi-goddess.

Power Girl rushed forward, ripping the robots off of her and using them as weapons against the others. The Flash ran through the crowd as a streak of red- killing dozens of robots in a few seconds.

“Slow down, Kara!” the Flash said, dodging a series of energy blasts. “Without the sun, you’ll lose your powers before the day’s over at this rate!”

“At this rate, we’ll all be dead by the day’s done,” Wonder Woman said as she sliced through a trio of robots. “We need to protect Wayne Enterprises- they’re working on a solution to this.”

“We could easily take Brainiac out if Kal and I were fully powered!” Kara said as she threw a car into the crowd of enemies.

After stabilizing Gotham for the moment, Kara went with Barry Allen and Diana to the Hall of Justice. The water in the fountains were frozen solid and the building was covered in a layer of snow and ice. The three took the teleporter to the Justice League Watchtower orbiting the Earth. Once in the briefing room of the advanced space station, Power Girl stumbled upon a dozen other reserve members of the Justice League. As Batman briefed the super team, Power Girl looked out of one of the large viewports, looking down on a frozen earth.

“Wayne Enterprises has managed to develop a solar bomb deployable from one of our Javelins retrofitted for space,” Batman explained as a hologram of the plan was displayed. “We need to bring the craft within close range of the entity and release the bomb- the released energy should be enough to destroy it.”

“What even is this thing, Bats?” Green Arrow said as Hal Jordan walked up to Batman’s side. “What’s really happening here?”

“Ring?” Hal said. “You heard the talking goatee.”

“Of course, Lantern Jordan,” the ring said. “The black void surrounding Sol is an ancient weapon known as a “Sun-Eater”. It was designed as an apocalyptic weapon, created by the alien race- the Controllers, a species that was forced from Oa by the Guardians of the Universe millions of years-”

“Cut to the chase,” Firestorm said impatiently.

“The Sun-Eaters’ purpose is to devour a star until it’s death, forcing it into a supernova,” the ring stated. “The supernova would supercharge the weapon and it would continue on to the next closest star- leaving the solar system of the dead star to freeze and die.”

The plan was well-thought out. Hawkman, Hawkwoman, Superman, and most of the reserve members would distract Brainiac’s forces by feigning an attack on his control ship. The rest of the core Justice League- assisted by Power Girl- boarded the space Javelin and rocketed towards the dying sun. Hal Jordan used his old pilot skills to use by piloting the space ship. Batman gave him the signal and, when they got close enough, he pulled back and released the bomb.

The heroes watched as the bomb was yanked to the Sun-Eater at incredible speed, exploding in a blinding inferno. However, their hearts dropped as nothing seemed to change. Batman and Wonder Woman talked strategy but, suddenly and without warning, Hal Jordan stepped into the airlock.

“Hal!” Batman snapped. “Get out of there. Now.”

“That thing needs a massive burst of energy, right?” he sighed. “Well, nothing’s more powerful than my ring.”

“You don’t need to do this,” Diana pleaded. “You could die! Think about Carol.”   
“I am,” he sighed, scratching the gray hairs on the side of his head. “Tell her… tell her I’m sorry, okay? But hopefully, you won’t have to.”

“Hal! Goddamnit!” the Flash screamed as the Green Lantern ejected himself into space.

He flew like an emerald comet towards the Sun-Eater, being pulled by the powerful gravity at an astounding rate. Floating in front of the dark singularity, he raised his ring as he glowed brighter and brighter.

“ **In brightest day, in blackest night, no evil shall escape my sight** ,” Hal began with a heavy heart. “ **Let those who worship evil’s might, beware my power… Green Lantern’s light!** ”

As he ended the oath, the ring glowed unbearingly bright and erupted into an explosion of pure emerald energy. Kara had to squint and raise a hand so as to not be completely blinded by the explosion. As the light dulls, they laid their eyes on the light of the sun- realizing that the Sun-Eater was completely destroyed.

“Jordan?” Batman ventured. “Come in. Do you read?”

There was no response- only static. A few moments later, Hal Jordan’s ring- flying of its own volition- sped past the Javelin and flew off to another section of the universe.

Together, the Justice League managed to take down Brainiac and force him into a retreat from the solar system. After the dust settled and Earth returned to a semblance of normalcy, Power Girl was offered a position in the core Justice League. She sat on one of the balconies of the Daily Planet with her cousin, the both of them in their civilian identities.

“Clark, I… I don’t know,” Kara said, adjusting her glasses nervously. “Hal… he was such an inspiration to- well, to everyone.”

“I know you’re confident in your powers,” Clark stated. “You’ve come a long way from that girl I found in an escape pod in Siberia. So, what is this really about?”   
“I’m not interested in replacing him, Clark,” she sighed. “I… if that’s-”

“You won’t be,” he said. “You are you, Kara. You’re Power Girl. You are one of the most powerful people I’ve ever met. No one will give you a second look for joining.”

Power Girls eyes lingered on the thermonuclear detonation high above Metropolis as she was kept in stasis by her shock. Her eyes widened as adrenaline pumped through her veins, freeing her from her surprise. She flew upwards, almost immediately breaking the sound barrier. She dodged metal remnants of Metallo as tiny shards of Kryptonite grazed her cheeks and caused her to bleed.

Superman fell through the fallout and the radioactive clouds, plummeting past his cousin and towards the Earth’s surface.

“Clark!” Power Girl called out as she quickly switched directions.

She shot towards the ground as she reached out for her unresponsive cousin. She grabbed onto his hand tight and pulled him to her, scooping him up bridal style. She slowed her descent and transitioned to just floating high in the sky.

She scanned Kal-El- finding a weak heartbeat. Upon closer inspection, she found a multitude of broken bones, internal bleeding, and far, far too many shards of Kryptonite of various sizes.

“By Rao…” she cursed under her breath.

She looked to the ground with her telescopic vision, making eye contact with Lord Zod. She felt her anger boil inside of her to the tipping point before her earpiece buzzed.

“Kara?” came the voice of Lois Lane. “What was that explosion?”   
“Metallo,” Kara said, struggling to find the words. “He had a nuclear device inside of him laced with Kryptonite. Clark- he flew it away from the city.”

“Is he-”

“He’s alive, but…” Kara sighed. “It doesn’t look good, Lois.”

“Bring him to S.T.A.R. Labs!” Lois suggested. “I’m nearby- the tech there should be able to help him.”   
“I’ll see you there…” Kara says very distantly.

Power Girl flew across Metropolis, leaving Zod and his allies behind. Very quickly, Kara landed in front of a large building under lockdown near the University of Metropolis. She looked up at the front of the building, reading “Science and Technology Advanced Research Laboratories”. She attempted to look through the building with her x-ray vision only to discover that the emergency blast shields on the windows and doors have a layer of lead.

“Director Klyburn!” Power Girl called out as she stared at one of the security cameras. “Open up! Superman needs help, now!”

Suddenly, before she could get a response from the intercom, Power Girl was hit in the back by an energy blast that knocked her off of her feet- dropping Superman. The Man of Steel unconsciously groaned as he bled on the ground. Power Girl slowly stood, looking back as Eradicator descended to the ground.

“Stand down, Kara Zor-El,” the android ordered as his heavy feet touched the ground. “I do not wish to erase the bloodline of Zor-El- he was a true son of Krypton.”

“My father was a good man, but he wasn’t perfect, Eradicator,” Power Girl glared as her eyes glowed red. “What he did to Argo City-”

“Was ingenious,” Eradicator interrupted. “He saved a city of science from the destruction of our homeworld. He created an entire floating space city: the last remnant of Krypton’s glory. He saved our people until you intervened. That can be forgiven as long as you step away from Kal-El.”

_ I need to have faith in S.T.A.R. Labs. Just keep him talking… _ Kara thought to herself.  _ Give them time to release the lockdown and grab Clark. _ As she considered this, Lor-Zod landed behind the android with Blanque at his side.

“His time stranded in space drove him insane,” Kara argued. “My father  _ killed _ Argo City. By Rao! They would have been better off dying with the rest of the planet! When the city ran out of food and oxygen, he killed them all- my mother, included- and turned them and himself into cyborgs. Into monsters.”

“He did what any man would have done.”

“Kill her before I do, android,” Lor-Zod snapped angrily.

Power Girl heard the sound of the sealed doors moving behind her, prompting her to repress a smirk.

“He did what any crazed monster would do,” Kara said. “Like the ones who created abominations like you and Doomsday.”

“It is a shame that the House of El will  _ fully _ die today.”

Eradicator sent a blast of energy that Power Girl used her cape to block before slicing across his crest with her heat vision. Before she could transition to a real fighting stance, Lor-Zod flew at her and hit her with an oversized construct of a spiked baseball bat.

She was knocked across the courtyard and crashed through a statue of Garrison Slate. She slowly rose as Blanque used his telekinesis to hurl pieces of debris after setting them on fire. The first few slammed into her before she could get her bearings on the situation. The Girl of Steel released a solar flare as she punched a large chunk out of the air, slicing another in half with her heat vision. Another flew at her face but she used her arctic breath to send it flying back at Blanque, making him stagger as it collided with his forcefield.

Lor-Zod launched himself back into the fray, restraining her with his constructs as Zod and Ursa arrived. Ursa punched Power Girl repeatedly, likely fracturing her jaw, as her husband walked towards the slowly opening front entrance of S.T.A.R. Labs.

“Humans,” Zod said as several armed guards and a redheaded woman in a lab coat stepped out. “You’ll do well to step away from Superman. I’m far too familiar with your species’ weak bodies.”

“Move him,” the woman said as Power Girl struggled, coughing up blood as Ursa took joy in making the woman suffer. “Dru-Zod, isn’t it?”

“You’ll call me Lord Zod.”

“No, I won’t,” she snapped as two of the guards drag Superman into the lobby of S.T.A.R.. “You’re not the most intimidating of metahumans that have come to my door, so don’t act like you are. Besides, even if you were- there isn’t a soul in this city who wouldn't protect him like he’s protected us.”

“Ah, I see,” Zod glared. “This facility is run by a fool. A fool of a talking corpse, even.”

“Jenet, run!” Power Girl yelled as she fired her heat vision into Zod’s side, burning hot enough to melt a damaged part of his armor into his skin.

Zod groaned in pain and, before he could react, a muscular, red-mohawked woman charged out of the building with a terrifying battle cry and decked the Kryptonian king. He fell back, only to receive another series of punches and powerful kicks from the 9’7” goliath of a woman.

“Meet Rampage,  _ Lord Zod _ ,” Jenet Klyburn mocked as she followed the guards back inside.

“Father, put the savage down!” Lor-Zod cheered his father on.

  
  


Before Ursa landed another punch on Power Girl, she and her son were hit with powerful blasts of lightning. The two screamed in pain as Black Lightning landed hard between them, Lor’s constructs shattering hard.

Black Lightning was a tall black man with a closely trimmed greying beard. He wore a slim black and blue suit, adorned with the imagery of electricity as actual electricity sparked and swirled around his limbs. He nodded to Power Girl as she stood.

“You rang?” he joked.

“Took you long enough,” Power Girl said as she delivered a surprise attack to Lor-Zod, knocking him high into the sky. “Where’s-”

Before she could finish, Superboy arrived from the west- his red cape blowing in the wind as he flew in. Kara couldn’t help but smile, even in a situation like that.  _ Welcome back, Jon, _ she thought as the twenty year old Kryptonian-Human hybrid pummeled Eradicator through a city block. 

“Enough!” Zod roared as he suckerpunched Rampage, sending her several meters back into a wall. “Blanque! Lift that lockdown. Now.”

The albino telepath nodded, prompting the S.T.A.R. Labs security guards to drop their weapons and make use of the biometric scanners. Black Lightning hit Ursa with a powerful electric blast as he rushed after Blanque.

“Not so fast!” Black Lightning snapped. “You won’t be the first albino supervillain I’ve-”

“He won’t grace your list, human…” Zod growled as he sped over and grabbed the vigilante by the throat.

“I’m willing to bet…” Lightning gasped. “Those boots aren’t rubber…”

As Lor-Zod pinned Kara to the ground, Black Lightning’s eyes sparked wildly as millions of volts of electricity fed through Zod’s body. As Zod recoiled, Superboy flew in at supersonic speeds only to bury Zod under a pile of rubble and debris.

Superboy looked up as dust mixed with his hair amongst the debris. He lets out an exhausted sigh as Power Girl freed herself and wrapped a lightpost around the Red Lantern.

“We have this handled, P.G,” Superboy said, wiping blood from his lip. “But Superman-”

“I’ll keep him safe, Jon,” Power Girl nodded before flying into S.T.A.R. Labs as Blanque lifted the lockdown.

Power Girl glanced back, watching as Rampage delivered a fury of blows to Ursa, Black Lightning electrified Eradicator, and Superboy went toe-to-toe with Lord Zod in the sky.

Power Girl rushed through the areas of S.T.A.R. Labs not under lockdown, dodging scared scientists as she flew through the main cortex. Four mind-controlled security guards fired on her as they blocked the elevator, the bullets bouncing off of her chest. She looked up with her x-ray vision, spotting Superman three floors above her. She sighed before flying up through three floors, exiting in the third floor’s main cortex connecting several wings of the facility.

The woman rushed through the third floor, approaching the solar treatment lab until she stumbled on Blanque. The three remaining mind controlled security guards passed the biometric scanner, lifting the lockdown on the room and revealing an older man in a lab coat operating a machine as Supermain laid on a table unresponsive. Director Klyburn grabbed a handgun from under the desk as Blanque motions for the guards to open fire. Power Girl sped forward, ripping the guns out of the hands of two of them and blocking the bullets of the third with her body. She crushed the weapons and tossed them down before carefully knocking the men out.

“Power Girl?” Klyburn said.

“Help Superman,” she ordered. “I’ll handle-”   
“You will handle nothing, girl,” Blanque said out loud, his French voice breaking his silence as he pinned her against the wall with his telekinesis. “I have had enough of your interference.”

“Get… out of my…” head!” Kara screamed as she felt his powers ripping at her psyche like a wild animal.

She fired a powerful blast of her heat vision, though his forcefield blocked the assault as her nose began to bleed.

“You overestimate yourself!” Blanque laughed. “Superman had to lock me away in his fortress to keep the world safe! How do you expect to-”

Suddenly, after being hit hard in the back of the head, Blanque passed out as blood mixed with his white hair. Power Girl looked as Blanque fell, spotting Hawkwoman with a recently bloodied mace.

“Stay down, Frenchie,” the alien monarch taunted. “You alright, Kara?”

“I will be,” she nodded as she wiped the blood from her nose. “Thanks.”

“Blanque needs to be isolated,” Director Klyburn stated as the solar generator powered up. “There’s an anti-telepathy cell on the first sub-basement.”

“I’ll bring him there,” Hawkwoman said. “Carter and the others can hold off Zod’s people as long as they can.”

“Hawkman’s here?” Power Girl questioned.

“Yep,” the Thanagarian nodded. “So is Conner. Everyone saw that explosion.”

As Hawkwoman rushed down the hall with Blanque in tow, Power Girl entered the solar lab. The old man, a man she recognized as Dr. Emil Hamilton, monitored Kal’s vitals as the overhead machine fired solar radiation directly into his cells.

“How is he?”   
“He’s nearly stabilized,” Emil explained. “However, I’ll admit that these specific devices are Faulkner’s specialty- not mine.”

“Based on these scans,” Jenet sighed. “He has possibly thousands of shards of Kryptonite inside of him.”   
“I can feel it,” Power Girl said as the elevator dinged down the hall. “It’s like getting acupuncture- not enough to really affect my powers but-”

“Superman?”

Lois Lane rushed by from the hallway, sitting next to her husband. Power Girl relaxed upon realizing that the doctors already knew Clark’s secret.

“Clark?”

“Lois…” Superman groaned. “I can’t..”

“It’s okay, Kara’s here,” Lois calmed. “Just rest- she can handle-”

“No, I… I know,” he coughed. “It’s Br- Bruce.”

“Don’t worry about him, Clark,” Power Girl said, holding his other hand. “Just rest.”

“They’re right,” Klyburn said. “We need to stabilize you and then we’ll put you under. We need to remove as much of the foreign bodies as we can as  _ soon _ as we can. You’ll-”

“I can’t hear him,” Clark said as tears silently ran down his face. “Bruce… I can’t hear his heartbeat.”

Kara and Lois looked at each other, worried as Director Klyburn prepared the anesthesia. Before another word could be spoken, the building shook violently. Kara whipped her head around, looking through the internal walls to see the Red Lantern floating in a hole in the wall on the other side of the floor.

“What is it?” Lois asked.

“Lor-Zod,” Kara glared. “He has a red power ring now. Director, can you reinstate the lockdown from here?”

“I can,” Emil said. “I can use my cybernetics, but…”

“The internal defenses will need time to adjust to your biosignature,” Klyburn said. “You’ll be targeted alongside the intruders.”

“Do it,” Power Girl said, stepping out into the hall as several scientists and technicians entered the lab.

“Kala Avasti,” Klyburn said as a scientist strapped Superman down. “Make sure the reactor is locked down. The last thing we need right now…”

“I’ll have it handled, Director,” a Napoli woman with dark hair said as the door sealed.

As Power Girl walked down the halls, all of the rooms were sealed off as red lights flashed and the alarms blared. She walked through the evacuated fourth floor until she entered a large lab populated with high-grade gear made to monitor the sun. In the middle of the room was a clear chamber with small energy projectors lining it, ready to fill the chamber with solar radiation. On the far end of the room was a sizable hole in the wall where Lor-Zod stepped down from, glowing red.

“Lor-”

“I’ve heard enough from you!” Lor-Zod growled, creating the construct of a mask around Kara’s head.

She gasped for air, realizing the construct cut off her air flow and blinded her for the most part. Her x-ray vision allowed her to see through it, though it was very red-filtered and grainy. Before she could react, Lor-Zod smashed her through monitoring equipment and into a deactivated robot. He punched violently and unrelentingly, fracturing bones and likely bruising the girl. He slammed down towards her head with both fists, much like a crazed gorilla, but the last daughter of Krypton raised her arms and blocked the attack before kicking him off of her.

The Prince of New Krypton screamed in anger as he crashed through the ceiling and the entirety of the fourth floor. Power Girl flew after him to the fifth floor only for the both of them to be fired on with automated turrets. While the projectiles didn’t pierce their skin, they definitely packed a punch. Kara was hit several times in the air before Lor-Zod used a construct of a fist to pull her to him. Before she could react, he shifted the construct into chains that restrained her arms and wrapped around her neck. She gasped for breath as her throat closed and she was used as a living shield.

“It’s funny, Power Girl…” Lor whispered harshly in her ear. “You told me this ring inside of me is killing me? I’m pretty sure it’s killing you!”

Kara’s vision began to peter out as she fell to one knee, feeling her breath escaping her as she was hit with repeated attacks. She found herself losing the will to fight against the overwhelming power- that is until her supersonic hearing picked up the voice of Lord Zod outside. She looked through the building to see him restrain Kon-El- incredibly beaten and bloody, just like his suit. The crest of the House of El was ripped and soaked in blood as Zod held him in a headlock.

“I’ve had enough, Kal-El!” Zod snapped. “I know you can hear me and I hope you can see me!”

Hawkman swooped in, cracking his mace across the side of Zod’s head- allowing Conner to briefly get free. He hit Zod hard with a telekinetic blast as he pinned him and fired his heat vision into Zod’s face. However- suddenly with a deafening crack- the lasers ceased as Zod snapped Conner’s neck and tossed the lifeless body to the side.


	3. K.I.A.

Kara would have screamed in rage and grief if she could have found her voice as her eyes lingered on Kon’s lifeless body. She heard the exact moment he left- the moment his spine snapped… the moment his heart gave out. She wanted to scream until she couldn’t speak or cry until there was nothing left.

Unable to do that, she did the only thing she  _ was _ able to do. She gripped the chains as hard as she could, firmly pushing her foot against the ground. She pressed her other foot against the ground and shot herself up through several floors, flying through S.T.A.R. Labs’ roof taking Lor-Zod with her. She shattered the chains as she floated over the scientific center, glaring at Lor-Zod.

“I’ll give it to you, Kara,” Lor said, a little disoriented. “I really thought I-”

“Shut up,” she snapped as she slammed him into the ground next to Zod.

Power Girl stood alongside Hawkman, Hawkwoman, Black Lightning, Rampage, and Superboy in the city streets of Metropolis as they faced off against Lord Zod, Red Lantern, Lady Ursa, and Eradicator. Both sides were exhausted and beaten down- too much so to throw any verbal jabs or threats. Kitty Faulkner- aka Rampage- leapt into the air, her red mohawk blowing in the wind like a sail as she slammed into Eradicator. He managed to free himself from her grasp, blasting her back to the ground only for her to throw a manhole cover at him and knock him out of the sky.

The Son of Steel- Superboy, aka Jon Kent- flew forward and collided with a spiked shield from Red Lantern.

“You won’t get through this, Johnny Boy!” Lor-Zod taunted as blood trickled from his mouth.

“I don’t need to,” Jon smirked before flying away, successfully getting the prince to follow him in a blind rage.

Meanwhile, the Hawks took on Zod himself, the both of them expertly dodging his heat vision. Zod was a formidable foe up close and- as the Hawks couldn’t beat his supersonic flight- they had to stand their ground even if that ground was the air. The Nth metal in their armor and weapons allowed them to actually harm the dictator with the objects’ magical properties. This fact only infuriated Zod more and more.

Power Girl and Ursa collided on the streets, both breaking the sound barrier just with their punches. Ursa grabbed a flaming car and used it as a weapon, smashing Kara down the street and ripping up the asphalt. Kara slammed her fist through the street as she tumbled, stopping herself from being knocked too far away. She flew at Ursa as Black Lightning intervened, causing the Kryptonian queen to be electrocuted from various electrical sources.

Kara slammed into Ursa, tackling her through one of the supports for the raised bullet train. She delivered several powerful punches before being kicked away, slamming into the raised train platform. Before she could react, Ursa fired on her with the heat vision- burning at and scaring the crest on her chest.

“Jeff!” Kara said in pain as the blast pressed her against the metal beams.

“Don’t sweat it!” Black Lightning snapped, hitting Lady Ursa with a solid blast of lightning in the back.

The queen slowly stood after falling to the ground as Kara landed. Smoke rose from the Kryptonian, the burn scars on her neck now very evident.

“Do you realize what you’ve done?” Ursa growled.

“Made a tyrant feel the burn,” Lightning taunted. “You’re nothing but a power-hungry- woah!”

The Kryptonian flew at him, barely giving him any time to form a forcefield of negatively charged electricity. She bashed at Black Lightning’s defenses, forcing him to one knee as his veins literally began to glow blue as his body neared it’s limit.

As Power Girl flew to engage Ursa, Superboy led Lor-Zod through the skies as the two engaged in a deadly dogfight. Superboy looked back, blasting his heat vision at the same time as Lor which caused the blasts to cancel each other out. Before Superboy turned back, he was hit by the construct of a meteor, knocking him out of the sky. Lor-Zod grinned devilishly as he managed to catch up to Superboy, forming a sword in his hand.

Jon managed to reorient himself, barely dodging the red blade as it cut through his cape. As Jon twisted in the air, he delivered a powerful punch to the back of Lor’s head and sent him plummeting into the ground at supersonic speed- only a few blocks from where the others battled. Superboy landed lightly in the crater, looking at Lor-Zod as his Red Lantern Corps uniform flickered due to him slowly losing consciousness.

“I’m sorry, Lor,” Jon said as tears silently ran down his face. “I didn’t want any of this. I didn’t want it to end like this.”

“J… Jon…” Lor said as he passed out.

Jon noticed something in the prince’s eyes before he lost consciousness. A look he hadn’t seen in the Kryptonian Prince in… well, in a long time. Longing. Loving, even. Not an emotion known to power a Red Lantern.

Kara saw what was happening around her. It was so, so painfully evident. She had already lost Conner and maybe Clark. God knows how many civilians. All she wanted was to stop anyone else from dying. She- just like billions of others- prayed for it. However, on  **that day** , no prayers were heard. There was no mercy or kindness or  **justice** \- not even in the City of Tomorrow. Not during the Metahuman Crisis.

As she got close to Ursa, the queen backhanded her and sent her crashing into Rampage. Ursa slammed her fists down and broke through Black Lightning’s defenses, splitting his skull as her powerful attack landed. As his body fell, a massive EMP was discharged. The EMP caused Eradicator to overload and shut down for a few minutes. Kara listened for Jefferson Pierce’s heartbeat but didn’t hear a sound. She was filled with rage as Ursa turned to her with a smile. Together, Power Girl and Rampage charged the queen.

Nearby, the Hawks fight for their lives against Lord Zod. Hawkwoman flew in, kicking Zod in the back as Hawkman tripped him by slamming his mace into the general’s shin, fracturing a bone. 

“You think you’re something special, Zod?” Hawkman lectured. “You’re not. I’ve met far too many weak men just like you over thousands of years. They’re not always as powerful as you, but do you know what you have in common?”

“You speak too much…” Zod growled as he looked up.

“You all lose in the end.”

Zod roared in anger as he blew Hawkman to the side with his arctic breath as Hawkwoman failed at a sneak attack. Zod dodged and punched her to the ground, gripping her wings as he pressed a foot onto her back.

“You Thanagarians are pathetic!” Zod growled. “Your people have lost more wars than there are stars in the sky! Now, submit. Kneel- the both of you!”

“At least- GAH!” Shayera screamed as he pulled on her wings. “At least we still have a planet!”

“Let’s see if you’re so defiant without your wings!” Zod snapped. “You-”

Zod was interrupted as Hawkman tackled him mid-flight. He slammed Zod through a statue before beating him with his mace. He swung again, but Zod grabbed the man’s wrist and stopped him. Hawkman struggled and began screaming in pain as Zod snapped the man’s wrist like a twig- shattering his bones into dozens of fragments. As he dropped the mace, still struggling as best as he could, Zod caught the weapon.

“Carter!” Hawkwoman called out, flying at Zod.

“Shayera, stay back!” Carter said through a clenched jaw.

Zod threw Carter’s mace as a deadly projectile, sending it into Hawkwoman’s left wing. The bones in the wing broke as some of the bones stabbed through the flesh. As she groaned in pain, the princess fell and slammed into the ground, rolling to a stop.

Lord Zod released Hawkman’s wrist to raise him off of the ground by his throat. Carter used his one good hand to pry Zod’s fingers away as his throat closed under the pressure to no avail.

“Now,” Zod said proudly as he wiped his bloody nose, his eyes glowing red. “I said… kneel.”   
“Never again,” Carter gasped for breath as he delivered a death glare. “And never to you.”

Zod released his heat vision through the eye holes in Hawkman’s helmet, sending the energy stream directly into Carter’s skull. Shayera let out a pained, blood curdling scream of grief as Carter’s body grew limp. Zod dropped the corpse, causing Hawkman’s body to fall to its knees, his head hanging as smoke poured from the charred skull inside the helmet. The smell of burning Human flesh permeated in the air as Shayera Hall went into shock.

The next thing Kara knew, she, Rampage, and Superboy were the only ones still standing. While they did outnumber Zod and Ursa, the lords of New Krypton didn’t seem nearly as exhausted as the heroes of Metropolis.

“Kneel and you will save yourselves and this city,” Ursa said at her husband’s side. “We may even forget your transgressions against our son.”

“All we want is Kal-El,” Zod said firmly.

Power Girl opened her mouth to speak but stopped once she heard the sounds of destruction inside of S.T.A.R. Labs. Just as she looked back, Superman flew out of the building and delivered a powerful punch to Zod- sending the man several city blocks and through multiple buildings- and a second to Ursa, causing the raised train platforms to collapse on top of her.

“You wanted me?” Superman said out of breath. “I’m right… right here.”

Superman’s suit was greatly damaged from his charred boots, ripped logo, or his tattered rag of a cape. Blood rushed down his open wounds as he struggled to stand in place.

“Dad, you shouldn’t be out here!” Superboy said, helping his father stand. “It’s too-”

“I sat out for too long,” Superman said heartbroken, looking around at his fallen friends, family, and allies. “I… Zod won’t stop until…”

Ursa shoved the debris off of her as Zod returned, now covered in dust and rust, landing in front of the heroes.

“Until I’m dead…”

“No, actually,” Zod smiled. “I’ve seen all I need to. Look at you.”

Superman attacked Zod, but the king dodged and allowed Superman to fall to the ground. Clark groaned in pain as he clutched his side before firing his heat vision. However, he quickly stopped as he began to cough up blood.

“You’re already dead, Kal-El,” Zod said as he turned his back.

Ursa pressed a device on her belt, causing a high-tech alien spacecraft to de-cloak as it landed in S.T.A.R. Labs’ courtyard. She picked up Eradicator as Zod retrieved his son.

“What? You’re running?” Rampage snarled.

“No,” Zod chuckled. “It would be  _ cruel _ to kick a dying dog, would it not? I’ve already beat you,  _ Clark _ .”

Superman slowly rose to his feet as the surviving enemies boarded the craft. 

The heroes watched as the spaceship flew into the sky, leaving Metropolis behind. Clark gripped his side as he stepped forward, though was quickly stopped bY Power Girl.

“Kal, you need to slow down,” Kara explained gently. “Something is very wrong with you. They’re already gone.”   
“We need to stop them,” Clark said, not sounding too much like himself. “They can’t get away with this.”

Rampage shifted back into her Human form, her muscle mass greatly receding as she shrunk in height. She wore the same Kryptonian weave leotard, though it shrunk with her body. She brushed her messy now-brown hair out of her eyes as she studied the injured Superman.

“Big Guy, you need to relax,” she said. “I’ve been in Rampage mode so, I don't know exactly what is going on, but… you’re past your limits.”

Without saying a word- very Batman-like- Superman flew after Zod’s craft. Superboy and Power Girl reluctantly follow if only to make sure he doesn’t get hurt.

The three Kryptonains flew through the cloud layers as the ship climbed higher and higher. Kara and Jon seemed to share a silent conversation, both expressing their worry over Kal-El. As they got close, an energy weapon extended from the hull of the ship and fired. The Kryptonians dodged the first few blasts but, as he slowed down, Superman got hit. He groaned in pain as he fell, trying and failing to regain his flight as he practically vomited blood.

“I’ll catch him!” Jon snapped as he dove down through the clouds. “You keep going!”

Before Kara could say anything else, Jon already dropped hundreds of feet below.

Power Girl flew faster behind the craft, dodging the incoming energy blasts. She barely managed to grab hold of the ship, slightly crunching the hull enough to have a strong grip.  _ I can’t hang on forever _ , she thought as the heat of the engines bombarded her, damaging her suit more and more by the second.  _ Need to do… oh, Rao. _

Her attention was stolen away as the blue sky shifted to black, many stars coming into view. Kara made sure to hold her breath, knowing her Kryptonian physiology would sustain her for some time. Before she was able to reformulate a plan, the engines glowed brighter and brighter. Realizing what was happening, she let go and shielded her face as the craft sped up to near lightspeed. The engines blasted her hard and sent her careening through the atmosphere towards the ground.

She fell rapidly, rolling as she shot through the cloud layer. Before she could reorient herself, she crashed into the roof of LexCorp Tower which surprisingly stopped her descent- however, she did leave a sizable dent in the structure.

“Glad you’re not home, Lex…” Kara groaned, clutching her side.

She gasped before looking at herself with her x-ray vision, discovering that she had broken several bones and fractured others. She slowly got to her feet and walked to the edge of the roof, looking out across Metropolis. Entire districts were leveled. Those that weren’t were in flames and ruins. She feared to imagine the state of the world. However, she soon wouldn’t have to imagine.

Over the next few days, after the fighting and the death toll came to a thankful end across the world, Earth exploded into a frenzy. Chaos and riots- buildings being burned, people attacked… However, this time it wasn’t at the hands of supervillains but the angry and grieving populace. An angry mob of a million angry citizens attacked the empty Hall of Justice, vandalizing the structure and chanting for the disbandment of the League.

Far from the Hall and several miles into the sky, the remnants of the Justice League met in the Watchtower. The large space station orbited the Earth, allowing the League an excellent base of operations in order to launch missions across the globe. Although, as Kara sat with her allies, she feared that those days were in the past.

Shayera sat carefully so as to not harm her bandaged wing as Diana looked to her with great concern. The Amazonian had only a few noticeable wounds, though she wore a new circlet on her head- one that was worn by her mother until a few days before. Jon Stewart and J’onn J’onzz shared a mumbled conversation, both discussing the worst case scenario and possible strategies. Barry Allen nervously played with his Flash ring as he pressed a foot up to the table, not paying much attention as Kara sat down.

The team met in the briefing area in an unbearable silence, all watching various media outlets on the large monitor. The vast majority of them had turned on the Justice League and the heroes of Earth. Kara’s attention honed in on  _ The Carr Show _ , where the personality Snapper Carr yelled at the camera on a daily basis.

“-and I’ve been sayin’ it for years!” the balding man snapped from behind his desk. “These so-called heroes- metahumans and freaks, I say- are nothing but trouble! I don’t care if they dress like a bat or shoot lasers out of their eyes!”

“Easy Snap,” Snapper’s guest- journalist and Kara’s boss, Cat Grant- said with a smile. “You’ll blow a gasket.”

“Of course, you’ll defend them, Cat!” Snapper said with a sarcastic laugh. “CatCo’s stocks depend on Power Girl saving a kitten from a tree and flashing her-”

Kara scowled as  _ whatever _ Snapper Carr said was censored with a long bleep.

“These people- people like Power Girl and the Justice League- they didn’t attack our planet,” the fifty-something year old woman defended. “They tried to save it.”

“And they failed!”

“Just once.”   
“Not just once,” Snapper retorted. “But let’s pretend, hypothetically, that this is their first failure… should we give them another chance? Would the over fifty million dead in the past forty-eight hours give them  _ another chance _ ? No. No, they wouldn’t.”

“That isn’t exactly-”

“I remember the day the Justice League came together, you know,” Snapper ignored her. “We were terrified when that Darkseid guy descended on our world. I, admittedly, praised the metahumans for saving us. However, that doesn’t mean that we had to stroke their egos for all these years! How many times did an alien invader stop by before these metas popped up? How about a maniacal clown? Gangs of superpowered crooks? These heroes’ presence brings out these maniacs!”

Martian Manhunter turned the monitor off, knowing it wasn’t helping anyone to watch it. The team sat together in silence, the lack of Batman, Superman, and Aquaman far too evident.

“How is Kal?” Diana spoke up. “Some of these news stations are saying he’s dead.”

“No, he’s alive,” Kara explained. “Thankfully. The minds at S.T.A.R. Labs removed as much Kryptonite as they could, but… there’s so much that’s still in there. They said it’s fused on a molecular level.”

“What does that mean?” John asked cautiously.

“The Kryptonite has  _ joined _ his physiology,” Kara said. “I’m not really sure what that means for him…”

“Barry?” J’onn poised. “Any thoughts?”

“Well...” Barry said, scratching the slightly graying scruff on his face. “If it’s fused… that would cancel out… amazing! But, awful. If… no, that’s-”

“We don’t all have a speedster brain, Allen,” John snapped his fingers.

“Sorry,” Barry scratched the back of his neck. “Clark’s new physiology is killing him, but at the same time, his cells have to work double their usual rate in order to heal him. It  _ will _ kill him eventually, but if he uses his powers…”

“He’ll speed it up,” Diana sighed. “If he works as Superman again, he’ll die.”

“Unless the condition’s reversed,” Barry nodded. “Yeah. I’m- I’m sorry, Kara.”

“It’s… we need to talk about what we do now,” Kara said. “Where do we go from here?”

“What’s our situation, exactly, J’onn?” Wonder Woman asked.

“Well, Aquaman was killed by his half-brother Ocean Master in defense of the world’s coastlines,” J’onn said. “Ocean Master made use of an ancient Atlantean weapon to raise the tides- however, Arthur managed to stop him in San Diego. Not before much of the city flooded, however. Gotham was viciously attacked by the League of Assassins and, while his allies repelled the assault, Batman was killed by Ra’s al Ghul. In Themyscira…”   
“Somehow, someone guided Maxwell Lord to my home,” Diana explained grimly. “He used an army of androids of his design to lay siege.”

“What do you mean someone led him there?” John asked.

“That’s what he told my mother before he killed her,” Diana said, grinding her teeth. “We’re questioning him now for more, but-”

“Wait,” Kara said. “Metallo let something slip in the fight. He mentioned someone else- he implied it wasn’t Zod who rebuilt him. A benefactor, maybe?”

“These attacks across the globe…” John said. “They were orchestrated? Who could have even pulled that off?”

“No one comes to mind,” Barry considered. “But I… does it really matter?”

“Barry- what are you talking about?” John asked, shocked.

“I’m lucky that my family is okay,” Barry said. “But a lot of people aren’t that lucky. I don’t need to run to the future to see what happens next: the people will call for us to disband until the UN forces us to. We failed and… I don’t want to be like Bruce. Or even Arthur. Bruce orphaned Helena, like Arthur left Andy without a father.”

Barry removed his Justice League communicator from his pocket, placing it on the table.

“I’m not telling you what to do,” Barry sighed. “But Iris and the kids… they need me. I won’t risk losing them.”

“You’re not entirely wrong,” J’onn said. “I sent messages out to our reserve members- all of them- and I didn’t get a single response.”

“The world’s changing…” Shayera said, speaking for the first time since her arrival. “Everything is changing.”

“Shay?” John said concerned.

“I should have died with him,” Shayera said, staring blankly at the table. “With Carter. That’s how it  _ always _ happened… that’s how fate demanded it, so why… why is it different now?”

“Shayera, you’ve been through something awful,” Diana calmed. “Just take a deep breath and-”

“Stop it!” Shayera snapped. “I- I can’t. I can’t do this anymore. I just need to find answers.”

Shayera stood and left, going to the teleporter room. The team knew better than to go after her in a time like this, though her departure left them in a stunned silence.

Eventually, it really sunk in with them all: the Justice League was dead. It died alongside over fifty million people during C-Day- or the Metahuman Crisis. With her mother dead, Diana needed to step up as the Queen of Themyscira and withdraw from the mortal world. Refusing to give up the fight, John Stewart traveled across the universe to return to Mogo in order to rally the Green Lantern Corps.

Soon enough, the only ones who remained were Kara and J’onn. The two stood together at one of the viewports, watching the Earth below them.

“We can’t give up if there’s something to this,” Kara said.

“We won’t,” J’onn said. “However, we can’t do it together. The Justice League is… it’s done. This age of heroes we’ve become accustomed to is gone. I’ll keep the investigation going. I won’t stop until we can truly uncover whatever is happening here.”

“But we can’t do it in the light of day,” Kara sighed. “At least not for some time.”

“Perhaps we’ll take a page out of Batman’s book, though let's leave out the brooding.”

“Stay safe, J’onn.”

“You as well, Kara.”

The next day, Martian Manhunter appeared to a special council of the United Nations and formally announced the dissolvement of the Justice League. He issued a formal apology on behalf of the Justice League and, while many of the world leaders credited him for his responsibility, the protestors outside had a different stance. They called for J’onn and the other former members of the Justice League to be arrested as vigilantes. However, J’onn vanished in the crowd and went into hiding for his own good.


	4. Aftershocks

The world was in mourning over the millions of casualties from the days before. The global population was just over nine billion however, for fifty million to brutally die in a single day was… crippling. Most people had grown to blame Earth’s former heroes as well as their enemies, but the populace couldn’t forget that many heroes died to protect them.

Metropolis had a massive mourning service in the center of the city where they grieved the many lives lost in their city. However, they also mourned the deaths of the heroes who died in their attempt to stop the invaders. Superman had long remained a symbol of peace- a symbol of Metropolis. So of course, the city was heartbroken with the deaths of two Supermen. Of course, the original Superman still lived but- as he hadn’t been seen since C-Day- he was assumed to be among the dead.

Kara Danvers attended the memorial in her cousin’s home city, though she couldn’t help but feel guilty. Of course, she felt terrible for failing her adoptive world. She and the Justice League were meant to protect the Earth and they fell short. Although, on that day, her guilt pulled at her as she knew that there were many funerals and memorials- many dedicated to old friends and allies.

Atlantis memorialized Aquaman, as did the other submerged kingdoms. They even celebrated Aquaman in San Diego, knowing that he died to save them. Gotham City mourned Batman, and- while Kara wasn’t super close to the Dark Knight- several of her good friends were former proteges of the bat. Most of all, Kara worried about Shayera. She knew her friend was going through the ringer, trying to understand what that event meant for her and her fate with Carter.

Kara stood with Clark, Lois, Jon, and James Olsen in Centennial Park in Metropolis, among millions in mourning. In the center of the park was a statue of Superman that was damaged in the fight and, more recently, was defaced. However, as the dust settled, the statue became a memorial to the Man of Steel and those who truly died that day.

Various religious figures spoke to the crowd that day, offering their respect and condolences, as well as words of wisdom. Kara’s phone buzzed in her handbag as a priest from the Church of Krypton stood in front of the statue. She glanced down, using her x-ray vision to see the phone screen and discovered sixteen missed calls from Lena Luthor. She pressed her lips after a long sigh, looking up to the priest.

“Many lights were snuffed out by the evil doings of powerful beings,” the priest said. “However, no matter what you believe this is not their end. All life moves on in one way or another, such as the light of the sun will always penetrate our hearts- such was the will of Rao. It is my belief that Superman is… he was a gift from Rao- one of the few survivors of Krypton who landed on our humble planet. He became a symbol. A protector. A defender of justice- as all followers of Rao should be. We must take a look inside of ourselves to-”

“He wasn’t a gift!” an angry man shouted, pushing his way to the front.

The man looked as if he'd worn the same clothes for days, still covered in grime and dust. His face appeared gaunt with dark circles around his eyes as tears ran down his face.

“He was a monster!” he shouted.

“We are all grieving, sir,” the priest said tense. “But this is not about Superman. It is about what unites-”

“Just shut up!” he snapped, shoving his gun in the man’s face.

People in the crowd gasped and screamed as members of the Metropolis Special Crimes Unit moved in, readying their guns.

“Put it down,” Director Maggie Sawyer said calmly. “Now.”

“Superman and Zod… and those other freaks…” he said. “They’re all the same. It’s their fault my baby girl is dead. And my wife. They act like gods- but we know they die just like us! And you’re insulting all of us by worshipping these- these freaks!”

Apparently he hit a cord, as dozens of the bystanders stood by him and shouted similar things. They pushed against the police line, one of them even swinging a punch.

“Don’t do anything,” Clark whispered. “Our presence will only ignite things.”   
“Dad, we can’t just sit here,” Jon clenched his fists.

“Listen to him, Jon,” Kara said disappointed. “We can’t push this over the edge.”

“If you want to be so close to Superman,” the angry man snapped. “You can join him!”

Time almost slowed down for Kara as the priest flinched, someone threw a brick, and a cop opened fire. A gust of wind blew her hair into her face as Jon- suited up as Superboy- flew into the scene. He lasered the brick out of the air, stood in front of the bullets from the cop, and grabbed the end of the man’s gun as he pulled the trigger.

Mumbles spread through the crowd as Superboy became the first Kryptonian to reappear since the Crisis. Superboy gently took the gun, unloading it quickly.

“I’m sorry you’ve been through this,” Superboy said. “All of you. But we aren’t the enemy. We’re doing the same thing now as we were then- trying to help. Killing a man won’t hel-”

Many people began to scream and yell, throwing objects at the young half-Kryptonian. Thanks to his super-hearing, Jon registered every little insult sent his way. Some told him to leave Earth. Others told him to throw himself into the sun. Others called him a murderer. Before Jon could say anything else, Maggie Sawyer walked over.

“You need to leave, Superboy,” she warned. “For everyone’s sake.”

Superboy hesitated but obeyed and left as the MSCU struggled to contain the crowd.

Afterwards, the group returned to the Kents’ Metropolis apartment. James Olsen attempted to make some coffee despite the fact that his arm was in a sling. Lois patted him on the shoulder, opting to take over for him. James sat next to Clark at the table as Jon sat across from them.

“Jon,” Clark said, getting his son’s attention.

Jon sat his glasses down as Kara sat next to him. He let out a sigh as he looked to his father who was still covered in recovering wounds and injuries.

“I’m sorry, Dad,” Jon said. “I just… I couldn’t let… he was going to-”

“You did the right thing, Jon,” Clark relaxed. “You saved lives, even if they may not appreciate it.”

“But you said…” Jon said surprised. “You told me-”

“I know,” Clark nodded. “I told you to stand down, but if you listened there only would have been more reasons to grieve. I’m not… I’m not Superman. Not anymore. Earth needs protectors now more than ever before.”

“Kara,” Lois said, changing the subject. “Are you joining us at Bruce and Selina’s funeral?”

“I’ll pop in later,” Kara explained as Lois brought her some coffee. “I need to talk to Shayera. I haven’t heard from her since the meeting in the Watchtower and… I’m just worried.”

“Carter’s funeral is in an hour in Midway City,” Clark said. “It’s a small gathering but I’m sure Shayera would be happy to see you.”

“I’d know for sure if she would answer my texts,” Kara comments. “But I should get going if I want to make it.”

“Be safe, Kara,” Clark advised. “Please.”

Kara nodded before giving hugs to the group as she left. She glanced back at the group, feeling a heavy guilt on her shoulders for not protecting them better. Not fighting better. Not-  _ Shut up, Kara _ , she told herself before leaving.

Kara returned to National City, a once shining beacon of mass media on the West Coast. However, the city was hit by the events of C-Day so some of the city was under construction. National City was much better off than places like Metropolis, New York, and Gotham City- but that didn’t mean its people didn’t suffer without Power Girl there to help them.  _ Just add it to the list of reasons to beat yourself up _ , Kara thought to herself, commenting on her growing guilt.

In order to not alert her neighbors, Kara landed on the roof of her apartment building and removed her glasses from her handbag- as she made sure to fly carefully in her civilian clothes. She walked down the stairs and entered her apartment: a classy but not overly opulent living area. As she quickly got ready for the funeral, she checked her phone just as she got an incoming call from Lena Luthor.

“Hey, Lena,” she answered. “Look, I know-”

“Four days, Kara!” Lena snapped through the phone. “No answer for four days! I thought- God I thought you were dead!”

“Lena I…” Kara said cursing herself under her breath. “I’m sorry. I was in Metropolis and- the signal there is… it’s bad there.”

“I… I’m just glad you’re okay,” Lena says. “ _ Are _ you okay?”

“Yeah, I am,” Kara explained as she picked out a dress. “It’s just… everything that's been happening. My cousin was hurt pretty bad and another relative died in Metropolis. So did some old friends.”

“I- I’m sorry, Kara,” Lena said sincerely. “Is there anything I can do?”

“Not right now, at least,” the blonde sighed. “I need to go to a funeral. It’s a small one, but… look, I’m sorry for bailing on our-”

“Don’t sweat it, Danvers,” Lena calmed. “We can always reschedule. I think flaking on plans right now can be forgiven. I’ll let you get ready, but call me later? I don’t want to have to use my satellite to track you down.”

“Don’t worry, Lena,” she chuckled. “It’s a date.”

It took very little time for Kara to get ready with her superspeed. She chose a modest, black dress and heels for the funeral as she called Shayera Hall. After several rings, the call went to her voicemail.

“Hey, it’s Shayera,” the recorded voice said. “I’ll try to get back to you later. You know what to do.”

“Hey, Shay,” Kara said after the beep. “I just wanted to have a chat. You know, catch up after… after everything. I’m worried. Call me, okay?”

After hanging up, Kara made sure to feed her cat before leaving for the Midwest.

Carter Hall’s funeral was small and private compared to the Metropolis memorial, located in a small graveyard just outside of the city. Kara easily found the grieving site by the recently dug grave. It was there where she found a small collection of people- all of which she recognized.

Sitting in one of the chairs with a worn satchel at his feet was an Egyptian-American man around Kara’s age in a white dress shirt and black tie. He ran a hand through his closely cropped hair as he stared at the fresh grave.

“Khalid,” Kara said gently.

“Kara,” the man smiled kindly as he stood and hugged her. “I’m glad you’re alright.”

“And you,” she nodded. “I’m surprised Nobu let you out of his sight.”

“He didn’t,” he shrugged to the satchel. “I can barely sleep these days. He-”

“Come on then,” a British voice said from behind the magician.

Kara looked back to see Detective Chimp, Zatanna, John Constantine, and an elderly Kent Nelson.

“Let’s not talk about those dark things, Mister Nassour,” Chimp continued. “Welcome, Miss Danvers.”

“It’s good to see you,” Zatanna said, looking much less flamboyant than her usual attire suggests. “Metropolis- that looked like hell.”

“Everywhere looked like Hell,” Constantine grumbled, fishing a pack of cigarettes from his coat. “Take it from someone who’s been there.”

“In this company, Johnny,” Kent said, stomping his cane on the ground. “You’re not special in that regard.”

“Kent,” Kara smiled. “How are you doing?”   
“Well, you know…” Kent chuckled. “Cancer’s a bitch.”

“You could always put the helmet-”

“No, no,” he waved off. “Doctor Fate kept me alive for... much longer than it should have . I’d rather die as- well, as me.”

“What did I just say about the dark shite?” Chimp complained. “Constantine?”

“Guys I- I would love to catch up, but,” Kara said as Constantine handed a cigarette to the detective. “I don’t see Shayera and I haven't heard from her since the League split up. I’m worried.”

A nervous hush fell over the group as the statement landed on their ears.

Detective Chimp and Constantine walked over to the grave to smoke and separate themselves from the situation. Kent leaned against a tree as he let out a sigh.

“She didn’t look well when we saw her last,” Kent replied. “A hurt wing… some cuts and bruises… but something deeper.”

“You spent too long under that golden dome, Nelson,” Zatanna said. “You’re as vague as you were as Doctor Fate.”

“You saw her?” Kara asked. “Recently.”

“I didn’t,” Zatanna said. “I was dealing with a mindless Etrigan in Vegas.”

“And Nobu brought my body to another dimension,” Khalid said with spite towards the ancient being.

“Kent?”

“She came to see me in my home and… she was distraught,” Kent said solemnly. “It was the first time I’d seen her cry. I held her until she stopped.”

“Why did she come to you?” Kara asked.

“After C-Day, much of the Guild of Detection went underground,” Kent said. “Although, they didn’t disband. They’re a group of detectives, investigators, and conspiracy theorists after all. As I’m sure you know, Shay and Carter were among their ranks. Since she was preoccupied when they disappeared and they’re quite the cautious bunch… she wanted my help to find them. I couldn’t really help, but I pointed her to an old, mutual friend and member of the Guild.”

“Who?” Kara said in a demanding tone.

“Who’s the craziest conspiracy nut you know?” Kent said with a sigh.

“Where is he?” Kara questioned as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

After a brief explanation by Kent and after saying her goodbyes, Kara left her old allies behind and took to the skies. After a short flight, she arrived in Hub City: a large, commercial city somewhere between Springfield and Chicago. The city- despite its commercial importance- was dirty and grimy like a midwestern Gotham. Kara barely had to use her enhanced senses to hear the sounds of dozens of illicit activities throughout the town.

She landed on the roof of an old, decrepit apartment complex. Once upon a time, the roof hosted a lively garden though, by the time Kara arrived, it was dead and moulting. She headed down the stairwell, traveling down several floors until she entered a hall. The hallway was littered with garbage and graffiti as lights flickered overhead.

Kara approached a door labeled 305 and turned to knob to discover it to be locked. She angled her glasses down to the bridge of her nose as she fired her heat vision, melting the mechanism as she turned it, opening the door. The entryway of the apartment was a disorganized mess with photos and newspaper clippings on the wall. An evidence baggie was stabbed to the wall by the corner, holding a bloodied knife.

Inside the main area, she found a sofa, table, and tv moved far off to the side to make room for… well, a workspace for a lost mind. Dozens of boxes of files were stacked against the wall all the way up to the boarded up window. A desk held more files and evidence in front of a massive collection of images and data pinned to the wall with red string connecting various pieces. Standing at the desk, using a laptop with the webcam ripped out, was a man in a Blue trenchcoat and fedora with his back to Kara as he mumbled to himself. She stepped forward, stepping on an old pizza box and causing a metallic  **_clink_ ** .

“Move a muscle and everything goes up in flames,” the man gave a monotone warning, still looking at his laptop. “This whole floor is packed with napalm.”

“That would kill you before it would kill me,” Kara pointed out, following his instructions. “Not to mention your collection here, Vic.”

“I don’t know a Vic,” the man stated bluntly. “And this is  _ evidence _ , not a collection.”

“I’m sorry,” Kara said, taking her glasses off. “Question. I need your help.”

“However you found me,” he mumbled. “Whatever you need- I can’t help. I  _ won’t _ . This world is in the grips of a massive conspiracy for world domination. A shadow tyrant… perhaps the monarch of Skartaris itching for control of the surface. The Armies of Apokolips… weakening our world, even. No… possibly the Lizard-People of Earth 51. Or a vast plan laid out by the Legion of-”

“Question!” Kara snapped. “Shayera Hall!”

The Question stopped talking and typing at his computer as he glanced back over his shoulder. Kara made “eye contact” with the man’s featureless face as he studied her, slowly turning around fully.

“Power Girl,” the Question stated. “I see… Kent Nelson?”

“Yeah,” Kara said. “He said he pointed Shayera to you.”

“He did, yes. And now he’s sent you here,” he stated as he picked up an old tape recorder from the desk. “Note to self: burn safehouse 4r.”

“Speaking of burn…” Kara gestured to her foot.

“Oh, you’re fine,” he waived her off. “There’s no napalm. You would easily be able to smell it, Power Girl.”

“So you lied,” she crossed her arm as she stepped forward. “And what’s up with the tape recorder?”

“I bluffed,” the faceless detective said. “And this is the only way to securely store notes or information. This cannot be hacked or sabotaged by someone across the continent. Did you know in the past forty-eight hours sixteen global security organizations’ servers were completely breached? An unknown amount of sensitive data was compromised and stolen by an unknown entity- an entity I suspect was also behind the events of C-Day.”

“I- okay, let’s put a pin in that,” Kara said intrigued. “I came here about Shayera. I need to find her. I’m concerned. Why did she come here?”

The two sat down in old, wooden chairs as the Question picked up a leather-bound book from one of the boxes. Kara looked to him with curiosity as his mind raced.

“She wanted to find Hawkman,” the Question finally said. “She wasn’t so open at first but I told her I wouldn’t divert from my work unless she told me everything.”

“I- Carter’s dead, Victor,” Kara said. “I was just at his funeral.”

“He is,” the Question said. “But Hawkman isn’t. He may have just been born.”

“She wants to find his reincarnation?” Kara asked, eliciting a nod from Victor Sage.

“She believed her survival may have broken the reincarnation cycle,” he explained. “As her testimony and Carter’s notes suggest…”

He gestured with the book before handing it over to Kara. She picked it up, studying the pages and found much of it was a journal with the oldest entries dating to the early 20th Century. At the time, Carter was called James Wright and worked as a Pinkerton detective. Kara also found an old black and white photo of the Hawks with the Justice Society of America.

“They always died together,” he explained as Kara studied the book. “Every time with one exception. In 1957- Doctor Manhattan’s manipulation on the timeline became overly evident and partially due to Wally West, the JSA was teleported through time.”

“I know, I was there when they popped up back in '18,” Kara said. “Shayera’s past life, Kendra, died just before Wally transported them. Shortly after they arrived in 2018…”

“Carter met Katar Hol,” Vic said. “When Katar died, Carter absorbed Katar’s memories and experiences which led to him meeting Shayera. He opted to remain in the present as he and Shayera, according to her, found that it was fate that brought them together.”

“So, do you think she broke the cycle?”

“No,” Vic said. “I’ve known Doctor Fate too long to know that it takes much more effort to shatter destiny. I believe both of them were on borrowed time. Carter outlived Kendra, just as Shayera outlived Katar. However, due to their co-existence in our time, whatever is behind their cycle got confused for lack of a better term. She wanted my help in finding Carter’s reincarnation- if there is one.”

“So, what did you tell her?”

“I’m no expert on magical affairs or fate,” the Question admitted. “She would have been better off talking to Doctor Fate- though he is quite unpredictable. I told her that this moment does seem monumental so perhaps the cycle itself is cycling. Repeating. At the very least, she could find clues- if not an infant Hawkman- where it all began. Egypt.”

“Back to her first life…” Kara nodded. “Where? Do you know exactly where?”

“No, I don’t,” he said as he stood. “Everything  _ I _ know about their lives is thanks to Carter’s book. I managed to grab it before we abandoned the safehouse.”

“Prince Khufu’s tomb…” Kara said as she read through some archeological notes in the book. “In Erdu.”

“Good luck,” the Question said. “And do me a favor: if anyone asks, I’m dead.”

“What?” she asked. “What do you mean? What about your research?”

“I need to relocate,” he explained. “This conspiracy… it may be bigger than anything I’ve seen. I mean total domination. They plotted the deaths of millions. I can’t fight this but I’ll uncover it. When I have something, I’ll find you.”

“The Justice League is dead.”

“It won’t be when you have an enemy you can actually punch.”

“Be careful, Vic.”

  
He nodded as Power Girl left the room and flew from the apartment complex into the sky.  _ Shayera, I swear to Rao _ , Kara thought as she looked to the sun.  _ You better have not done anything stupid. _


	5. Returning to the Nest

Power Girl flew across the Atlantic Ocean, now in her suit and out of her funeral attire, her red cape billowing in the wind. She closed her eyes as she took in the cool seabreeze as the sun got closer and closer to the horizon behind her. However, it wasn't long before this calming moment was interrupted by the smell of smoke and the sounds of war.

She opened her eyes and looked down and found that she was over Europe, specifically Spain. With her telescopic vision, she witnessed a violent civil war in the streets of Madrid. The city, like so much of the world, was still in chaos from the events of C-Day. Whatever happened there pushed the tensions to the brink and now a militia clashed against the government.  _ Just hold on, Shay _ , Kara thought to herself.

She plummeted towards the ground, dodging buildings and billboards as a monorail rocketed towards a destroyed section of rail. She glared as she changed trajectory, flying alongside the front cabin. The engineer struggled with the damaged controls as he looked over at Power Girl.

“Hey, you- oh, Spanish, er…” she fumbled.

“¡Oh Dios mío! ¡No! ¡Otro meta!”

“Do you- can you stop it?” Power Girl said poorly in Spanish. “The train?”

“¡No no! ¡Está atorado!” the man screamed.

“That’s not good…” Kara mumbled as she flew above the monorail, scanning the various cars as the transport sped towards it’s potential doom.

_ I can’t stop it. Not without hurting or killing anyone _ , Kara thought to herself as a realization came to mind.  _ Well…  _ **_that’s_ ** _ an idea. _ Kara flew down, entering the front cabin by smashing through a window.

“¡Solo espera!” Kara said as reassuring as she could as she grabbed the engineers inside.

Kara proceeded to fly through the train cabins, grabbing as many passengers as she possibly could to fill up the back cabins. Soon, she managed to evacuate the passengers to the back three cars before using her heat vision to sever the three occupied cars from the rest, allowing the empty monorail to rocket forward.

Barely dodging the train, she went behind the last car and gripped it hard enough to crunch the metal layers slowing the objects down enough for her to fly up front and fully stop it. She let out a sigh of relief as the only occupied cars stopped and the people cheered, just happy to be alive.

She told the civilians she would be right back just before she flew after the train, cutting through the air like a hot knife in butter. She overtook the empty, speeding monorail as it got closer and closer to the broken tracks. She landed very harshly in front of the monorail, bracing herself as the cars smashed into her, crunching and coming to a violent stop. All of the cars but one were stopped by the impact as the final one careened off of the platform and fell down towards the street.

Power Girl broke free from the wreckage and flew towards the falling wreckage as adrenaline pumped through her veins. However, before she could reach it, a woman below on the streets suddenly grew hundreds of feet and caught the car in her massive hand. The Kryptonian had to stop herself before she could crash into the giant woman’s muscled stomach. The woman wore gold forearm guards, boots, and armored leggings with a cropped top made to change shape with her. After the immediate shock, Power Girl recognized her without issue.

“Giganta!” Power Girl said as the car was crunched under the villainess’ grip.

“Ugh, Waller…” Giganta said with a glare as her red hair fell in her face. “We have a ‘hero’.”

“Power Girl,” came the voice of Amanda Waller in Giganta’s earpiece- a message Kara heard with her super-hearing. “Take her down or bring her in.”

“Are ya’ bloody serious??” the boomerang wielding Aussie on the ground snapped as an explosive boomerang cut through the militia. “Last time I checked, none of us had Kryptonite on hand!”

“You don’t need it to kill one of them, Boomerang!” Parasite said as the 6’5” purple leech leaped towards Power Girl, slamming her into the monorail platform. 

Power Girl clocked the metahuman on pure reflex as she felt the life being drained from her, sending the villain crashing below. She watched as he slowly stood with a toothy grin on his face, his eyes glowing red.  _ Oh, Rao _ , Kara cursed herself.  _ I’m an idiot! _

“It’s been too long since I’ve felt Kryptonian DNA!” Parasite said, flying directly at Power Girl.

She barely dodged, using her cape to grab him without making physical contact- allowing her to throw him at Giganta’s face. She groaned and stumbled back as Power Girl landed on the monorail platform, watching as the giantess grabbed a building to stop herself from falling.

Before Power Girl could react, two women approached from either side on the monorail after running across the rooftops. One of them wore a grey and orange suit with a mask covering the top half of her face, the design heavily mimicking Deathstroke. The other woman had short black hair and wore a lightly armored suit perfect for mobility that greatly resembled the style of a samurai. Her mask was stark white with a red circle in the center- inspired by the Japanese flag. Power Girl identified the second figure as Katana as both women approached with their respective swords drawn.

“Tatsu!” Power Girl said, surprised. “You’re still with A.R.G.U.S.? You too, Ravager?”

“After C-Day, there was not much of a choice,” Katana said, coming to a stop a few feet from the Kryptonian. “Government sponsored operatives- it’s the only choice.”

“Some of us just have bombs in our necks,” Ravager retorted. “Not all of us on the squad are supervillains. Just get out of here, Power Girl.”

“If you don’t move on her,” Kara heard Waller say. “You're done, Ravager.”

“Ravager…” Power Girl said cautiously, looking at the mercenary.

“A time like this,” Ravager sighed. “We can’t afford to lose our heads.”

Ravager lashed forward with her sword and forced Power Girl to dodge suddenly as the blade stabbed through her cape. Power Girl proceeded to give her a forceful shove in the back, though- somehow seeing it coming- Ravager very flexibly dodged, grabbing the Kryptonian’s arm and flipping her onto her face. Kara slammed her fist into the metallic platform and ripped up some of the tracks Ravager stood on, causing the woman to fly backwards several feet.

Power Girl slowly rose to her feet, her eyes glowing red as she watched Ravager use her sword to stand. However, before either of them could act, a figure in a black bodysuit with a violet vine-like pattern landed in between them. The new arrival looked to Power Girl with a small smile.

“Alba?" Power Girl said confused.

“Black Orchid, stand down!” Amanda Waller’s voice rang out. “Stand down or take her-”

“What’ll you do, Waller?” Orchid questioned. “Fire me? You can’t afford to lose me. Do you really want to make an enemy of a Kryptonian? Look, Kara- you need to go.”

“But I-”

“I’m sorry,” Alba Garcia sighed, motioning for the Suicide Squad to stand down. “I’m the Squad’s field commander and we were sent here to deal with this insurrection- not kill one of the last few good heroes. The way we did things… it’s over. I’ll never forget my time with the Justice League but…”

“The world’s different now.”

“Exactly. So, please,” Alba said, hugging Kara. “Don’t make an enemy of A.R.G.U.S. We have this handled.”

“Just… don’t lose yourself, okay?” Power Girl said with concern.

“Stay safe, Girl of Steel,” Black Orchid said as Kara nodded her goodbyes to the two other heroes on the platform. “And whatever you’re looking for on this side of the globe… I hope you find it.”

Power Girl flies into the sky, reluctantly leaving Madrid behind in the hands of A.R.G.U.S. and Task Force X.

Soon enough, the Woman of Steel crossed the Mediterranean Sea and did her best to not make any more detours. Like a breath of fresh air, the Republic of Egypt came into view. She flew over the marshlands, the plains, and deep into the deserts. She grazed the Great Pyramids with her fingertips as she flew past the republic's capital city.

Power Girl floated over the vast canyons in the southern parts of the country as she studied Carter Hall’s notes- following the directions to a T. According to Carter’s research from 1947, a once great city was located here- a city that hosted an elegant temple dedicated to the warriors of Thanagar that historians later identified as mythological gods. Erdu was its name but, at some point during the Old Kingdom, a terrible disaster destroyed much of the city and hid the rest.

Kara landed on the edge of the canyon, the harsh winds no doubt getting sand in her boots and hair. In the 1940s, Carter Hall used his vague memories of his first life to find what remained of his home and- more importantly, his tomb. Power Girl scanned the area with her telescopic and x-ray vision until she found it. Several miles away, a seemingly natural cave at the bottom of the canyon lead to an underground structure.  _ If Shayera is going back to the beginning… _ Kara thought to herself.  _ She has to be here. _

Power Girl landed again at the entrance to the cave and entered, careful to not hit her head on the low archway. After traversing several meters through the dark cave, she found the entrance of the tomb. The stone pillars were decorated with hieroglyphs, some of which very obviously depicted a spacecraft and two figures with the hawk heads and wings on their backs- both wielding swords.

She walked into the tomb, finding freshly lit torches on the walls. In the center of the room was an old statue with faded features, though Kara could tell it once depicted Prince Khufu. Before she could search the room for any other signs of Hawkwoman, she heard the sounds of crying echoing through the corridor.

“Shayera?” Power Girl said concerned before running through the tomb, careful as to not trip over anything.

Quickly, she arrived in the center of the tomb- dozens upon dozens of urns and vases lined the walls with golden adornments, coins, and jewelry spread across the floor. In the center of the room was an opened sarcophagus that- based on the layer of dust- was forced open almost a century ago. Most importantly, on her knees and hunched over in front of the sarcophagus, was a winged woman.

“Shayera!” Kara shouted as she ran over.

“Kara?” Shayera said weakly as she turned her head.

The Thanagarian’s hair was messy as tears ran down her gaunt face. Shayera may have had more bags under her eyes than she had feathers on her back which only amplified the look of terror and grief in her eyes.

Kara knelt down by Shayera as the woman cried, gripping her left arm tight as if she was hiding something as an ornate knife fell from her hand, coated in blood. Blood began to pour from Shayera’s arm, flowing between Shayera’s fingers.

“Shayera… what did you do?” Kara said horrified.

“Kara, I-”

“What did you do??” Kara repeated as she moved Shay’s hand.

Kara’s eyes land on the long, deep vertical slash down Shayera’s arm- realizing that she had been bleeding for several minutes. Kara cupped Shayera’s face as the winged heroine struggled to stay conscious.

“Why…” Kara said breathless. “I can- come on. I’ll get you to a-”

“Stop!” Shayera snapped. “P- please…”

“Why did you come here?’ Kara asked. “Just to… to…”

“I wanted to… find him,” Shayera cried out. “I know he’s alive. The cycle isn’t… it’s intact.”

“But why-”

“We should have died together…” Shayera cried. “I just- I  _ need _ to be with him, Kara. I can’t- I won’t live without him.”

“You didn’t have to lead me across the globe for this,” Kara said as she hugged her tight. “I love you, you know that?”

“I love you, Kara,” Shayera cried, hugging her back. “I know I’ll see you again.”

“I… I can’t wait…” Kara said through the tears as Shayera’s grip on her slowly laxed. “Shayera?”

The following day or two were a blur for the Girl of Steel, as she barely remembered even planning the funeral. Somehow despite this, the ceremony was arranged in Midway City and an intimate group arrived to pay their respects. Those who showed up for Carter also showed up for Shayera. On top of that, Clark Kent, Lois Lane, Barry Allen, Iris West-Allen, Don Allen, Dawn Allen, Barbara Gordon, and Jason Todd also arrived. Immediately upon arriving at the cemetery, Barbara practically tackled Kara allowing Kara to cry into her shoulder.

“I’m so sorry, Kara,” the redhead sighed. “We've all lost someone but… not like this.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t make it to Bruce and Selina’s…” Kara said, wiping her eyes. “I was… Shay…”

“Don’t sweat it, Danvers,” Jason Todd said as he joined the women. “They wouldn’t… they’d understand.”

Kara pulled away, looking at the couple with a small smile. Barbara wore a classy black dress and kept her hair in a neat bun and Jason cleaned up well, trading in his leather jacket for a black suit and red tie- his black hair even had a premature white streak in it. Aside from their attire, the two looked worse for wear. Jason sported recent stitches on his right cheekbone and had a black eye as Barbara had her left hand bandaged and some cuts on the left side of her face.

“How’s Gotham?” Kara asked.

“I think you can tell, can’t you?” Jason joked dryly. “It’s been tough-”

Jason’s phone buzzed in his pocket, causing him to scowl as he read the caller ID.

“I need to take this,” Jason excused himself.

Kara Danvers and Barbara Gordon continued to talk as they walked up to the graves. The grave to the left of Shayera’s, belonging to Carter, had a headstone that read:

**Carter Gardner Hall**

**Fly High**

**January 1, 1982 - October 7, 2027**

Barbara crossed her arms and sighed as she looked at the graves, studying the scene.

“That birthdate can’t be right,” Barbara notes.

“The month and the day are,” Kara said. “But he was born in 1921. We had to fake both of their birthdates for public records.”

The pair glance at Shayera’s grave, reading:

**Shayera Thral Hall**

**Fly Together**

**August 12, 1985 - October 11, 2027**

As the two stood in silence, Barry Allen came up beside them- visibly upset and somewhat disheveled. He patted the two on their shoulders as he stood by them.

“Barry Allen,” Barbara greeted. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

“Same to you, Barbara,” Barry nodded. “Meeting too many old friends at too many funerals these days.”

“Speaking of, I need to track down my, uh- Jason,” Barbara stumped.

“ _ Your _ Jason?” Kara said excitedly.

“Shut up, you don’t know anything,” Barbara chuckled as she walked off, leaving Kara and Barry.

“How have you been, Kara?” Barry asked.

“Well, we’re at a funeral, Bar.”

“No, I mean,” Barry shook his head. “How are you doing with the- the hero thing? You might be the only member of the League to not go off the grid. Unless you count John.”

“Well, who knows when he’ll get back from Mogo,” Kara said. “But, to be honest? It’s been rough. The day I found Shayera I had to stop in Spain. Rao… maybe if I didn’t… maybe she-”

At superspeed, Barry moved from standing at her side to standing in front of her as he placed his hands on her shoulders.

“You can’t think like that, Kara,” Barry said seriously. “Shayera- she made her choice. She was so incredibly stubborn. I doubt  _ anyone _ could have stopped her.”

“I guess,” Kara sighed. “I just… Conner died in front of me. So did Carter and Jeff. So many other people have died… and now Shayera? I know I’ve been doing this for a while now, but-”

“It never gets any easier,” Barry said, staring off into the distance. “I can’t tell you how many people have died in front of me- whether I knew them or not. I can’t tell you how many people I was too  _ slow _ to save. I had to learn- the hard way- that you can’t save everyone, no matter what you’re capable of. Besides, Shayera… she chose this, Kara. I don’t know why, but…”

“She said she couldn’t live without Carter,” Kara explained. “She knew she’d reincarnate and see him again, so…”

“I can’t really say I blame her,” Barry sighed as he looked back at Iris.

Sitting on one of the benches was a beautiful woman with shoulder length brown hair and brown eyes, attempting to calm down a pair of seven year old twins. The red-haired children ran around the area, playing together.

“I got you!” the boy, Don, cheered.

“You did  _ not _ !” his sister Dawn snapped. “Uncle Clark!”

“He did get you, Dawn,” Clark Kent chuckled as he and Lois approached.

“Just you wait until my powers kick in!” Dawn taunted.

“Mine will come in first!” Don laughed. “Right, Mom?”

“Just settle down, kids,” Iris West-Allen laughed. “If we’re lucky, your dad will be the only speedster in the house.”

“Without Iris…” Barry smiled as he looked at his family. “Well, I don’t want to think about it. They’re why I retired, after all.”

“Barry!” Iris called. “Help?”

Barry and Kara looked back at the West-Allens as Iris tried to hold the twins apart as they fought and yelled.

“Kara, this world needs heroes,” Barry said quickly. “The people might not realize it but… I have a feeling that what happened four days ago is only the beginning. You need to be careful- more than you’ve ever been. Y-”

“Barry Allen!” Iris called out as she lost control of the twins.

“Gotta go,” Barry chuckled. “Just… stay safe.”

Kara walked over to Clark and Lois as Barry helped control his kids. The three stood in silence for a few moments as Kara observed her surroundings. She listened as Barry and Iris basked in each other's presence, watching the twins make up and continue playing. As a comparison, near the exit of the graveyard, Jason and Barbara argued.

“What’s your problem, Barbie?” Jason argued as he tucked his phone away.

“You, Jason,” she crossed her arms. “This is a funeral. We-”

“Cass called me,” Jason shook his head. “Was I supposed to ignore it?”

“I… what’s going on, at least?” Barbara sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.

“Hush.”

“No,” Barbara snapped. “I’m asking you a quest-”

“No, I mean- it’s  _ Hush _ ,” Jason shook his head. “Thomas Elliot. He’s picking off cops in the streets. Detective Bullock’s hospitalized.”

“My dad…”

“He’s fine,” Jason said, placing a hand on her arm. “Look, I… I’m sorry.”

“Then talk to me,” Barbara said, lightly placing a palm on his cheek. “Is it Bruce? Scarecrow or Bane? The Jo-”

As Jason looked away with a weak look in his eyes and shame on his face, Kara shut out the conversation as she felt like she was snooping.

“So, what’s next for Power Girl?” Clark asked, pulling Kara back into the moment. “You’ve been consumed with… with all of this.”

“I don’t know,” Kara sighed. “I’ll take… take it a day at a time. This is such a weird feeling. I mean, we lost and…”

“You can’t fight back,” Lois finished. “You can’t pull yourselves up this time. The public opinion of you guys is… it’s broken.”

“It’s stopping the League from bouncing back,” Clark said.

“I’m not hiding,” Kara said. “I’ll protect whoever needs protection. I’ll continue to keep National City safe as best as I can…”

“It’s the end of an era,” Clark said as he looked to Shayera and Carter’s graves. “It’s unlike anything I’ve seen- and that’s saying a lot. But If you’re the example going forward, Kara? I’m not worried.”


	6. Epilogue

The world adjusted to the lack of public superheroes- or meta-heroes as they started to be called- over the following year. Power Girl remained as one of the few publically active heroes, battling many metahuman and alien threats since the events of C-Day. A few months after the crisis, Doctor Polaris attempted to steal several millions worth of tech from Horizon Technologies- Lena Luthor’s tech company, creating widespread chaos in the process. The Girl of Steel managed to stop Polaris before anyone got hurt, returning the stolen tech to Lena as Polaris entered A.R.G.U.S. custody.

She also fought off Mongul and a brief invasion of National City from Warworld. She managed to defeat the tyrant, forcing him and his people off of Earth. She nearly died fighting Parasite when he was on leave from the Suicide Squad, though, upon defeating him, she dragged him straight back to Amanda Waller’s office. Literally. Most notably, Power Girl entered an extradimensional battle with the demon Blaze. The fight cost her her life but she was saved by her old friend, Doctor Fate- aka Khalid Nassour. With Fate’s help, she managed to defeat Blaze and lock her into a pocket dimension contained in a gem hidden away in the Fortress of Solitude.

In short, the lack of heroes and super-teams had not lessened the amount of superpowered criminals. The small number of active heroes were forced to work overtime even as the governments of the world debated on anti-metahuman and strict anti-vigilantism legislature. Though they had yet to be passed, these laws would have fully criminalized the once-familiar superheroes.

Power Girl flew through the skies over the American Midwest, scanning the ground below her. Very quickly, the towering clouds of smoke and the smell of burning fuel arrived to her senses. Down below, just outside of the Mojave Desert, was the crash site of a downed private jet. As she approached, she noticed a dozen A.R.G.U.S. transports and- most notably- Superman.

She descended and landed in the midst of the wreckage at her cousin’s side. Superman had messy black hair and sparkling blue eyes. Much like his father, he had a strong jawline and the slightest of stubble. The red of the logo on his chest continued to his shoulders, but much of the rest of his suit was blue.

“Superman,” Power Girl greeted as she looked at the wreckage. “Any idea what happened?”

“No, but we need to work fast,” Superman said. “I convinced Waller to let us investigate.”

“You’re sure he was onboard?” Power Girl asked as she studied one of the imploded engines.

“This was definitely Lex’s private plane,” Jon said. “I can’t detect any lifesigns, but this thing’s lined with lead.”

“Let’s get to work.”

The two Kryptonians carefully moved some of the wreckage as they searched for any survivors. Unable to get to the interior safely, Superman cut an entry into the aircraft with his heat vision.

Power Girl followed him inside as the lights overhead flickered and exposed wires sparked. They checked the attendants on the ground, finding them all dead.

“Must have died on impact,” Superman sighed. “They came in fast.”

“The pilot must not have had any time to correct the course,” Power Girl said, deep in thought.

Power Girl lightly touched the interior wall as she studied the damage and black residue.  _ These are concentrated burns _ , Kara thought. _ Like, from a laser blast or a thermal projectile… _ She looked over to Superman who nodded as he noticed similar markings near the break through the plane.

Together, they reached the blocked section of the aircraft. The entire front of the craft- much of which was buried and on fire- was sealed off by a titanium security door.

“Give me a hand?” Superman said as he gripped one side of the sliding doors.

“Gotcha, Supes,” Power Girl said as she did the same on the other half.

The duo ripped the doors open and found a chilling sight. Six dead bodies were strewn across the area, many of which were in the same condition as the one before. However, some had similar burn wounds as the interior walls.

At the far end of the area, sitting against the cockpit door, was a bald man in a three-piece suit. His green eyes blankly stared forward, his body and suit was littered with burns and cauterized “projectile” wounds.

“Lex…” Jon said shocked as he scanned him. “Kara, this… this wasn’t an accident.”

“No, it wasn’t,” she said in agreement. “Someone wanted to take him out.”

“Mission accomplished.”

The two turned, spotting at Amanda Waller in the entryway. The older black woman was flanked by armed A.R.G.U.S. soldiers.

“Waller, do you know what happened?” Power Girl questioned. “This doesn’t look like an accident.”

“No, we just picked up the distress call. It’s time for you two to go,” Waller said.

“Just give us a few-”

“You can stay,” Waller crossed her arms. “If you don’t mind a bomb implant in your spine.”

“Come on, Power Girl,” Superman said, clenching his jaw as Kara glared at the A.R.G.U.S. Director.

“You know, Waller… they see us as the bad guys after all that we’ve done,” Power Girl said as she left. “What’ll the public do when they find out about the skeletons in  _ your _ closet?”

“Fly fast, Kryptonians,” Waller scowled.

The pair flew West in complete silence, the both of them taken by their own thoughts. Eventually, they reached National City and landed on the rooftop of a skyscraper with “CatCo Worldwide Media” in shining letters on the side. The two stood on the edge of the roof, looking out at the city. Kara sets her gaze on the Horizon Building- a unique looking skyscraper with “Horizon Technologies” on it with the logo of a shining sun on the horizon.

“That’s Lena’s building, right?” Jon asked.

“I just… should I tell her?” Kara nodded. “She’s my girlfriend. I can’t  _ not _ tell her that her brother’s dead.”

“Kara, you can’t,” Jon said. “She’s the poster child for the pro-humanists. She hates aliens. Hates metas. If you have special powers, she hates you.”

“A lot of people feel that way, Jon,” Kara crossed her arms. “Fifty million people dead- remember?”

“It’s hard to forget,” Jon sighed. “Kara, all I’m saying is- if you tell her, she’ll figure you out. She’ll find out about you being Power Girl. And she especially hates Power Girl- you know that. Given that whole Ultrawoman thing in Metropolis when she digitized all of those-”

“That was years ago,” Kara shrugged him off. “And it wasn’t even her. She said it was her counterpart from Earth 3.”

“Either way,” Jon said slowly. “You shouldn’t tell her. Power Girl should, if anything.”

“You’ve got a point,” Kara sighed. “This whole thing is a mess.”

“I know, Kara,” Jon said, hugging his cousin. “I need to get back home- my mom and dad should know about Lex.”

“Tell them I love them for me,” she said, kissing his cheek as he pulled away. “Stay safe, Jon.”

“I will,” he nodded with a smirk. “And the same to you, Kara.”

Superman departed, flying off into the early morning sky- bound for the East Coast. Power Girl looked to Horizon Technologies as the anxiety built up inside. She let out a heavy sigh just before the phone tucked in her right boot vibrated. She dug it out, and clenched her jaw upon seeing “Cat Grant” on the caller ID. She cleared her throat before she answered.

“Miss Grant, good morning,” Kara greeted, changing her voice a few octaves- sounding more shy.

“It's far too early for that, Kara,” Cat Grant replied, in her usual dry humorous tone. “How’s the story on Wayne’s new CEO coming?”

“Oh, it’s- it’s slow,” Kara replied. “ _ But _ I’m pretty confident that I’ll score an interview with him.”

“I hope so, because the Planet’s trying to beat us to the punch,” Cat responded. “This Jason Todd is a mystery. Hell, I swear I heard he was dead.”

“Oh, uh… just rumors, I’m sure,” Kara said nervously. “Miss Grant, I need to go. I think Todd’s assistant is calling.”

“Just hurry up on this, Danvers,” Cat said before hanging up.

Kara set her work problems to the side as she flew over National City, her focus shifting to the sloped building in question. She lightly landed on the balcony outside of the CEO’s office. She smiled slightly as she looked around her at the balcony’s zen garden.

Power Girl slid the doors open as she entered Lena’s office, finding the CEO at her desk with her back to the balcony. Lena Luthor had blonde hair kept in a short, professional bob. She wore a black pencil skirt and dark top as she typed away at her computer. Before the Kryptonian could say a word, Lena turned around in her chair as she heard the heroine’s footsteps.

“Power Girl,” Lena stated harshly. “You’re trespassing.”

“Yeah, I know…” Power Girl sighed. “But I need-”

“What you need,” Lena said as she crossed her ankles. “Is to get out of my office.”

“Lena, please,” she said quickly. “You need to-”

Lena seemingly ignored her as she moved to press a button on the underside of her desk- a button Kara knows would summon security. Moving at superspeed, Power Girl grabbed her hand and stopped her.

“Let me go!” Lena snapped. “You people and your god complex have caused enough-!”

“Lex is dead!” Kara snapped, shutting the businesswoman up.

“What?” Lena said, much calmer. “What did- how do you know?”

“Superman,” Power Girl said. “He heard your brother’s plane go down and I met him at the crash site. No one survived.”

“Why are you telling me this?” Lena asked in a monotone voice.

“Well, I… I thought you should know,” Power Girl explained. “I don’t know how it happened exactly, but-”

“Thank you, Power Girl,” Lena said coldly. “I appreciate you telling me this. Now, If you don’t mind…”

“Take care, Luthor,” Power Girl nodded with a sigh.

Power Girl departed from the Horizon Building, disappointed and confused by the very short conversation.

It didn’t take long for the public to learn about Lex’s death. Kara attended yet another funeral at Lena’s side in Metropolis, though she was very distracted throughout. The FBI’s official report stated that the plane went down due to a severe malfunction, despite Kara and Jon’s investigation with A.R.G.U.S. Lena gave a warm eulogy, talking about how much Lex had contributed to society- despite his faults and shortcomings. Kara somewhat expected her to talk bad about her brother, given all of the years he experimented on Lena- forcing her into a wheelchair for years.

Afterwards, Lena dodged reporters as she and Kara spoke with Clark, Lois, and Jon before going to Lex’s old penthouse. The pair walked into the main room as the lights flicked on and the metal shutters lifted, giving a stunning view of Metropolis. The pair sat on one of the couches, facing the penthouse view. Kara put her arm around the CEO, pulling her into a kiss. Lena sighed after they parted, placing a hand on Kara’s leg.

“I still have that meeting later,” Lena said. “The board’s naming me CEO of LexCorp.”

“That’s pretty soon, isn’t it?” Kara asked. “I mean- are you sure it’s safe? Lex was in that position only a few days ago.”

“What do you mean?” Lena asked as she stared off into the distance. “It was an accident.”

“I- yeah, that’s what the report said,” Kara said carefully as she readjusted her glasses. “But, I- it was Lex Luthor’s private jet. That thing had to be state of the art. How does something like that go down without any survivors  _ by accident _ ?”

“Kara-”

“I can look into it, Lena,” Kara said, holding the other woman’s hands. “I’m an investigative reporter, after all. I can pull some favors, get in touch with some sources…”

“Kara, stop it,” Lena said bluntly, placing a hand on her girlfriend’s face. “Please. Just… drop this…”

“I… okay, but Lena-”

“Promise me,” Miss Luthor demanded. “Promise me you won’t pry at this.”   
“Okay,” Kara nodded. “I… I promise.”

“Good,” Lena chuckled as they kissed for a few moments.

Kara wanted to stay in that moment forever. Just her and Lena. No conspiracies, no supervillains, no anti-meta sentiments, no crippling depression or funerals. However, it obviously couldn’t last. Lena’s phone buzzed on the table as Kara sighed, burying her face in Luthor’s neck.

“Screw the board,” Kara whispered, moving her hands to Lena’s waist. “Just stay here with me.”

“I’d love to,” Lena laughs, the sound making Kara blush. “But I have to get this done today. Just… sit tight okay?”

“Fine,” Kara smiled lightly as she leaned back. “I’ll hang out in this big penthouse apartment if I have to.”

“Funny,” Lena smirked. “Make sure we have everything packed and ready for the flight, okay? I’ll see you in three hours, top.”

Eventually, Lena and Kara were reunited and promptly made their way to the airstrip where they boarded Lena’s private jet. Kara was anxious at the least as the last time a Luthor flew West in a private plane… well, it was far too soon for that type of joke.

The Girl of Steel ended up falling asleep on the plane, however- simply calmed by Luthor's presence. The other woman’s shoulder made a fine pillow for almost three hours. By the time Kara woke, the plane came in for a landing at Horizon Tech’s private airstrip.

“Hey, do you want to get married?” Lena asked as they descended.

“What?” Kara nearly choked on her water. “Like, right now? Is this a- like, a proposal?”

“No, not right now,” she laughed. “But… it could be. I don’t have a ring on me but… life is just so short, Kara. And I don’t…”

“I’d love to marry you,” Kara grins, holding Lena’s face in her hands.

The next two years were not much easier than the previous one for most people but, mostly, for Kara Zor-El. The impromptu engagement between her and Lena Luthor only lasted a few months. Lena began to catch on to the fact that Kara was keeping secrets and, on top of that, she accelerated her anti-metahuman rhetoric to the point where she became a witness in the U.S. Senate. Due to all of these compounding circumstances, Kara called off the engagement with a poorly constructed lie.

In the aftermath of Lex Luthor’s mysterious death, Lena Luthor was named CEO of LexCorp and she promptly merged her company, Horizon Tech, with her brother’s and created LuthorCorp. With Lena’s leadership, LuthorCorp quickly rose back up to challenge Wayne Enterprises as the top corporation.

Kara Danvers sat in her office at CatCo Worldwide Media, typing at her desk as she finished up her newest piece for CatCo. As she worked furiously, she also listened to the live broadcast on her second monitor displaying the United Nations’ New York Metahuman Summit. The world representatives bickered like children until the President of the General Assembly called them to order.

“That’s enough, that’s enough,” the man ordered. “President McAllister- we recognize the gentleman from the United States of America.”

“Thank you, sir,” President McAllister, a gray haired politician with a small USA pin, stood from his seat. “It has nearly been three years since the Metahuman Crisis and there continue to be unsanctioned metahuman activities. It is imperative to global stability that the use of metahuman abilities be banned in all participating nations with the harshest of punishments in place. It is because of this that I believe the Principality of Markovia be held accountable for its crimes against humanity.”

The American’s statements caused very mixed reactions of support, anger, and general outbursts. Once again, the group was called to order.

“This is ridiculous!” a middle-aged man with red hair snapped, standing up suddenly.

“Prince Brion Markov- we recognize the gentleman from Markovia,” the president said. “You are welcome to a response, however: be civil.”

Kara was very familiar with Brion Markov, though she knew him better as the hero Geo-Force: a powerful metahuman gifted with gravity manipulation and geokinesis. He, like many metas operating out of Markovia, obtained their powers through forceful and illegal experimentation by their own government. In short, Markovia has always been a focus for the darker side of metahumans’ existence.

Prince Brion wore a dark, royal uniform with gold flair on his shoulders. A silver circlet rested on his head, partially obscured by his hair. Sitting to his left was a woman in a grey Markovian military uniform, sporting several medals and symbols, with her blonde hair in a pixie cut.

“Civil?” Brion said in English with his Eastern European accent. “I’ve sat here, being accused of crimes against humanity. I’ve sat here as most of my fellow world leaders have spat upon me and those like me. I did not choose to have my powers. Neither did my sister.”

Brion gestured to the woman to his left, his sister Countess Tara Markov, otherwise known as Terra.

“Neither did the vast majority of Earth’s powered people. And may I remind you all, the people you want to control? You called heroes three years ago,” the prince explained. “Groups like the Justice League saved this world more times than anyone could ever know but, once they failed, you turn your backs. What we are proposing here will only affect these good hearted heroes- not the criminals and terrorists who  _ actually _ committed the atrocities of the 7th of October 2027. I will clarify today: Markovia will not comply if this ban is passed for as long as I draw breath. I refuse to be complicit in the oppression of others.”

“Prince Markov, please clarify,” the president of Brazil asked. “Is that supposed to be a… threat?”

“You know quite well it was not!” the French president snapped. “It is not our place to restrict the existence of our citizens!”

“Another metahuman trying to strongarm those they perceive as weak?” the British prime minister glared. “How predictable.”

“Would you care saying that to our faces!?” Tara snapped as she stood to shape a marble bust into a sphere, levitating it in front of her.

“Order!” the head of the assembly snapped. “Countess Markov, I will remind you the brandishing of weapons in this building is prohibited- that includes meta-abilities. Will the gentleman from Markovia care to clarify his statements?”

“It was not a threat, sir,” Prince Brion said sternly. “It was a withdrawal- Markovia has no interest in being a part of this vile collection of oppressive states.”

The room erupted into bickering and shouting as the two Markovians departed from the United Nations.

Kara crossed her arms, surprised and oddly proud as she watched the broadcast. The arguing and yelling continued well after the Markov Royals left the building.  _ Brion’s got some guts _ , Kara thought to herself.  _ In costume and out- the guy’s a hero. _ Kara’s admiration faded quickly as an explosion echoed in the broadcast. Doors were knocked open and windows were shattered as over a dozen very high-tech androids entered, standing amidst the politicians. The arguing and yelling stopped immediately as they all looked to the automatons.

The robots were lightly protected with what Kara assumed was lightweight, but resilient, metal. Their “eyes” consisted of a single, red electronic screen. Most of them didn’t have any visible weapons, though they were far from unthreatening. One of the androids, one no different from the others, suddenly displayed the black image of an eye on their screen.

“What is this!?” the president of the general assembly snapped. “Who are you?”

Kara stood from her desk quickly, tossing her glasses down as she rapidly unbuttoned her top, revealing the crest of the House of El.

“Apologies for the intrusion, Mister President,” the android said in a mechanical yet weirdly human voice as it stepped forward. “But I figured someone needed to bring order. Not just to these chambers… but to this world. But, to answer your other question: my name is Brother Eye. I come before you to-!”

Quickly, armed security guards moved in with guns drawn. Before they could attack, some of the androids moved to engage. The guards didn’t stand a chance against the 6’2” titanium soldiers as they were beaten down in under a minute. Kara stared in confusion, recognizing the name and voice of the android.

“That’s… impossible…” Kara mumbled to herself. “The Hall was…”

“Now, as I was saying,” Brother Eye said as he crossed his arms. The Justice League’s failure showed the true flaws in our world. They failed because they would have rather paraded around like gods instead of saving lives. After all, these attacks did not happen a century ago. The Justice Society fought many world-ending threats aside from the Axis Powers. Before the arrival of Superman, the Flash, Wonder Woman, and others, there were no giant alien starfish enslaving millions. There were no superpowered assassins and terrorists. No crazed clowns, no serial killers from the future, no invasions from other worlds and dimensions. However… These metahumans were not inspired to act or invigorated on their own. It is the fault of the many men and women in power- the global elite and the leaders of the world. All of you in this room have hidden your lives and crimes for far… far too long. The injustice in our world… it dies today. Peace and stability cannot be achieved until the rot is carved out. I am Eye- there is  _ nothing _ I don’t see.”

Kara was confused as the feed cut out, though in a matter of minutes, she understood. Brother Eye’s veiled speech made sense as thousands upon thousands of documents, emails, and all forms of evidence were leaked to all corners of the internet. Every single dirty little secret the politicians of the world struggled to hide were instantly exposed. The aftermath was pure and utter chaos for the next several weeks.

Wars, revolutions, and protests sprouted up in every nation across the planet. Power Girl, among some of the unafraid active heroes, tried to restore order. They tried to save as many as they could but they were unable to keep up with the massive numbers of androids utilized by Brother Eye. This army of androids quickly restored order, ensuring that the governments of the world reformed and- after a few months- the world began to treat Brother Eye as a protector. A faceless-but-kid man who utilized his robot army to save and protect the world.

After exposing the illicit activities of government agencies, Brother Eye dismantled organizations like A.R.G.U.S., H.I.V.E., Cadmus, and the D.E.O. as well as replacing the police forces in most major cities with his androids. However, not everyone saw him as a savior. The people of Gotham City- assisted by the mysterious vigilante team, the Outsiders- fought against the changes Eye attempted to implement. After a dangerous and destructive several week conflict, Brother Eye fully held Gotham in his grasp and began to rebuild the city- restructuring it in order to make it safer. He even rebranded it, calling it Neo-Gotham.

One day, several months after Brother Eye’s arrival as the defender and de facto leader of Earth, Kara returned to her National City apartment after a run-in with some heavily armed Eye-Drones. She opened the door as she yawned tiredly, shuffling towards her bedroom. However, she stopped instantly as she heard breathing in the dark. She quickly flipped the light on but relaxed as she saw the Question standing in the middle of the room.

“Rao, Vic!” Kara sighed as she took off her glasses. “You scared me. I- what are you doing here?”

“I don’t have much time,” the Question said with a panic in his voice.

“What do you mean?” Kara asked. “What’s wrong?”

“Just- let me explain,” the Question said, slightly peeking out of the curtains as he held his side.. “I know who did it. I followed the trail back to the Hall of Justice… it’s a conspiracy that’s been plotted for a decade, Kara. He seized control of the Watchtower’s systems… accessed WayneTech’s secure files.”

“Who did-”

“He rebuilt Metallo… obtained a nuclear bomb…” the Question said in pain as he fell to his knees.

Kara rushed to him, realizing he was bleeding through his trench coat. Using her x-ray vision, she realized he had been shot by a high-caliber shot. The blast went through his upper back and came out just above and to the left side of his pelvis. Ribs were broken, other bones were fractured, and several organs- including his pancreas and liver- were pierced and ruptured.

“Vic we need to get you to a hospital!” Kara said as she started to lift him.

“No time!” he groaned, ripping his mask off revealing his face- an action he hadn’t done for years.

The conspiracy theorist’s red hair was wet from sweat and he had a noticeable five o’clock shadow. Blood trailed from the corners of his mouth and from a broken nose.

“Brother Eye…” Vic groaned in pain. “He planned it- all of it. I don’t know… why… but he- he’s sentient. It’s all in there…”

“Who shot you?” Kara asked, looking to Vic’s briefcase as the man slipped away.

“Dead- Deadshot…” Vic coughed, wheezing in pain. “Had to be hired- hired by… Eye. Don’t let…”

Vic stared past her, his eyes slowly unfocusing as a raspy breath escaped his lungs. His body went limp as Kara stopped hearing his heartbeat. She slowly laid him down on the ground as she looked around her at the scene.

She let out a shaky breath as she picked up the briefcase, opening it to find hundreds of notes and polaroids collected by the Question. At the bottom of the stack of papers was a small data drive with a blue question mark painted on it. She removed the sticky note on it, reading “ONLY ACCESS USING AN ENCRYPTED SYSTEM EYE IS EVERYWHERE”.

She set it down as she looked at some of his notes, some of which featured his usual brand of insanity. However, some connected some dots. She found polaroids of the interior of Lex Luthor’s jet which had apparently been put into storage by A.R.G.U.S.. The Question compared the evidence of laser blasts in the aircraft to some crime scenes in Gotham in the aftermath of a fight between Brother Eye’s androids and the Outsiders. Another note read “Eye eliminated L.L. Why? Did he catch on? There’s no evidence of this. The speedy takeover of LexCorp by Lena Luthor remains suspicious though- will investigate”.

“What?” Kara said to herself as she glanced at Vic Sage’s body. “What… what was it about Lena?”

Kara sat on the floor, exhausted and distraught next to the Question’s body. Tears silently rolled down her cheeks as she put a hole through her wall.

“When did everything go so… wrong?” Kara asked herself as she cried uncontrollably. “How did I get… here?”


End file.
